Untied Ends
by talklove
Summary: Zelda & Ike have had fiery relations since the first time they met. To end it all, the Master Hand forces them to spend time & live together, secluded with ridiculous tasks to complete, for a whole week. Can Zelda and Ike swallow their pride and get past their differences before they murder each other? DAY 3: PART 1 FINALLY UP!
1. Punishment

"You are such an ego maniacal, inconsiderate, insufferable git!" Zelda hissed at the blue haired man standing in front of her, arms crossed. His face held a calm emotion, eyes just plainly riveted on the brunette headed princess.

"You should have waited for me to step aside before you spontaneously lit up that Blast Box!" Zelda kept on yelling at Ike. They were both in Black Box 2, one of the rooms for the Smashers to wait in right before a Brawl. They both had just come from the stage, which had been transformed to the Pokémon Stadium for their Two-on-Two 7-stock battle against King Dedede and Ness.

The two could hear the crowd's cheers through the glass window of the room; they were eager to see the next match between Samus and Meta Knight.

Ike's and Zelda's battle had ended in a sudden death round with Kind Dedede, Zelda and Ike. While she had King Dedede in a grab, a Blast Box had appeared right above them on one of the smaller, upper platforms. Ike had taken the golden opportunity, and picked up a Fire Flower sitting in the middle of the stage and lit up the Blast Box from a distance. In a flash, the box exploded, sending King Dedede and Zelda flying up into the air- both KO'ed.

With Ike the last one in play, they had taken the win. But nonetheless, Zelda was furious. Right before the Brawl, they both had "agreed" work as a team…more or less.

"I don't understand why you're getting your underwear in a twist, Princess," Ike glared at her, his headband making is glower even darker, "We won. Isn't that what matters? On your record, it's a victory."

"It may be a victory, but that last fall counts against my record. And if you ask me, I'd like my record to be nice and clean of any uneccessary falls caused by inadequate partners," Zelda retorted. Oh how this blue haired man bugged her to no end. Ike only scoffed in response as he made his way out of the Black Box. "Whatever."

Oh how she hated how he could always ignore her, but she couldn't, in any way, ignore him. She hated how he thought he was better than everyone else, how he finds her a weak, unreliable princess and how he just discarded of her like a child's old play thing.

This was how it had always been. Ever since he had come to the Smash Mansion to join the Brawl, he had been far from being civilized to anyone, especially Zelda. She had become Ike's target for hurtful words and ludicrous ridicule.

"Now just you wait-!" Zelda yelled after him. She was not about to let Ike leave with him having the last word.

"Give it a rest, _Princess_," Ike said flatly, glaring at her over his shoulder. Zelda hated the way he called her Princess like it was an annoying nick name rather than recognition of appraisal.

"If you allow something as insignificant as this to get to your big ego, then you won't even hope to look like half the 'princess' you think you are in my eyes," Ike was facing her now, hand on the hilt of his sword belted to his waste, "And if you ask me, all you are to me is a temperamental, powerless princess that doesn't know when To. Shut. Her. Mouth." With the last few words, he had taken steps towards her bringing him so close that he glowered over her.

Zelda was speechless for a moment as she just stared up at Ike, flabbergasted at what he had just said to her. Then it all came back and his words slapped her across the face.

"Y-YOU-!" she stammered angrily and, without thinking, she had blasted the man in front of her with a Din's Fire spell sending him flying across the Black Box and hitting his back against the sliding doors. He stared at her in surprise.

Ike regained his composure on the ground and glowered at Zelda while reaching for his sword. "You asked for this, Princess," he gritted his teeth. Ike charged at her with great speed, side tackling her thin frame with his strong shoulder. Zelda felt the wind being knocked out of her, everything around starting to fizz. Her body flew to the other side of the Black Box and crashed out of the glass window that looked into the stadium.

The crash knocked her out and now she was freefalling from a huge height. He could hear the crowd gasp from the outside.

"Shit!" Ike cursed in panic as he rushed to the broken window. He looked out in time to see Meta Knight fly with swift ease out to where Zelda was falling. He caught her with one arm and flew back to the stadium. Their match was quickly stopped when Meta Knight and Samus saw Zelda flying out the window. Dr. Mario and his crew of goombas jumped into the scene with a stretcher strapped to their small bodies.

Ike spectated as Dr. Mario and his goombas quickly took Zelda off the stage and out of site. Meta Knight's and Samus's battle resumed.

"Oh man," Ike scratched his head, heading out of the Black Box, "Am I in trouble."

**xOxIxOx**

Zelda's head was aching. She squirmed in what felt like a soft bed. 'Wh-where am I?' she thought. She could hear small murmurs. "Oh look! She's moving!" "Oh dear, I hope she's alright." "Pikaaa!" "Whew, good. I thought she was dying. OW! Peach, what was that for?"

Her eyes fluttered open, a bright light blinding her eyes. She slowly sat up and fully opened her eyes. She was met with the faces of Pikachu, Peach, Samus, and Marth inches right in front of hers.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, jumping on Zelda and hugging her tight.

"EY, ehyou guys needa to give the ehprincess someah space!" Dr. Mario exclaimed, waving off Zelda's fellow smashers away from her face. Peach ignored him and stayed as the others fell back. "Zelda, honey, dear, how are you feeling?" she asked in a worried tone. Zelda's head throbbed.

"I'm fine," she said, rubbing her temples which she felt were in bandages, "I just have this massive headache."

"Well, I wouldn't blame you, Dear," Peach giggled sadly, "You crashed through a glass window and fell seven stories." That's when everything came back to Zelda. How Ike insulted her, how she had conjured a Din's Fire spell on him, how he counterattacked with a tackle and how she crashed through the window. But Link cut her racing thoughts short, barging in and panting like he had been running a marathon.

"ZELDA! Are you alright!" he raced to the side of her bed and took her hand. He looked like he just had come from training, wearing his practice uniform and sweating.

"I just heard, even though it was a few hours ago. But the news couldn't reach me as fast as it should have since I was training in the woods and-" Zelda cut him off, "Link, it's fine. I'm quite fine. No need to worry."

"That damn Ike," Samus cursed, "I swear, if I ever get assigned a Brawl with him, I'll rip of his cape, stuff it in his mouth, get his sword and stick that up his-" "Samus," Marth quickly said, cutting off the bounty hunter. "Sorry."

"I never thought Ike would do such a thing," Link said, not taking his worried eyes off of Zelda. "Oh you have no idea," Zelda murmured under her breathe. At that same moment, Ness barged through the tall doors of the hospital wing.

"Princess Zelda!" he skipped to her hospital bed, "Master Hand wants you in the Office, right now."

"No! Not until she'sah completely healed! Tell theah ehMaster-" Dr. Mario intervened. Zelda slowly and gracefully got out of her bed letting go of Link's hand. "It's quite alright, Doctor. I'll be fine. I will see you all later at dinner." She bid a small farewell to her still-worried friends and followed Ness down to the entrance to the Office, the domain of the Master Hand.

Zelda swiftly entered the large double doors, Ness struggling to close them behind her. The Office was a rather dark place; much like the subspace they had entered in order to defeat Tabuu a while back. The Master Hand had adapted to the darkness and rather liked it and decided to make his domain as so.

In a distance, she could see a lingering light, shining over an intricate carved car desk with the Master Hand behind it. It was ridiculous, Zelda secretly thought, that the Master Hand even had a desk, since he was merely a giant hand ascended in the air.

In front of it sat two grand chairs, intricately carved as the desk. Sitting atop one of these, Zelda silently cursed under her breath as she made her way towards them, was Ike.

"Zelda," the Master Hand's voice boomed. She had always wondered where it came from, "Pleased that you were able to make it. Are you alright? Please…take a seat next to Ike." Zelda moved the chair farther away from Ike before sitting down. Ike glared at her from the corner of his eye. Zelda paid no attention.

"I'm fine, Master Hand," she said, answering his question.

"Good," the Master Hand continued, "I am fully aware of what happened just a few hours ago right after your match and I'm saddened to say that I am disappointed in you both." Zelda mentally groaned, it was one thing to anger the Master Hand, but if there's one thing that's worse than making him mad, it was receiving one of his lectures. And by goddesses, they were getting one now.

"Here at the Smash Mansion, I expect respect amongst you Smashers, for yourselves and your fellow peers. And today, that was not what I heard of. You both know that I greatly discourage brawls outside the stage and training; but to assault each other just due to petty words? Those actions of yours deserve a consequence, not only for you, Ike, whom sent Princess Zelda flying at the window..."

Goddess, Zelda was already tired of it. She was not used to be lectured. Even as a child she was not lectured. She was more of the one who gave the lectures, even to this day. But why is she also taking the punishment? It wasn't she who had whipped out the hostile whip and told her off. She wasn't the one who was the insufferable moron who thought that he was far more superior than anyone else.

The Master Hand was known to give cruel and unusual punishments; taken from Sonic and Diddy Kong who were always taken in for their obvious pranks. Zelda's own thoughts dragged on for so long that she barely heard the Master Hand's last bit.

"…As punishment, both of you are going to be spending a whole week together to rid of your differences and, I dare say, grudges against each other. You will be assigned the same dorm, spend time to know each other and everyday, you will be given a small task that will involve working together. After your week is over, I expect you to be decent, if not good, friends. If not…well, I'll be pulling you two out of the next tournament. Understood?"

Zelda could not believe what she was hearing. And the Master Hand had just said it with ease, like it was just another insignificant problem he had to deal with. She glanced at Ike. He was sitting straight up, feet firmly planted on the floor, arms crossed tightly with an angry glower on his face. But he was speechless.

Zelda looked back up at the Master Hand, "But, but Master, why not just assign us an ordinary punishment? Why go and set all this up just for a mere quarrel? Surely, you're not serious."

"Oh, I'm quite serious, Princess Zelda," the Master Hand boomed, "If it's one thing that bothers me most, is petty, unnecessary quarrel. I want both of you to stop this foolishness. Now, off you go, pack your things. I'll send for you at noon tomorrow. It will be your first day."

Zelda got up without hesitation with Ike right on her heels. The double doors opened by themselves and, as soon as both were out, shut themselves closed, locked.

Zelda furiously turned around about to yell a very colorful remark at him, but was muffled by his red cloak wrapped around his neck. She looked up and was inches away from his emotionless face. Zelda let out a tiny yelped and pushed herself away. She felt his strong abdomen under his blue shirt.

"Get out of my sight, Ike," Zelda hissed. Ike merely smirked, "You were the one who turned around and was about to say something." She glared at him with the fury of a thousand suns, "You ought to know that this is all _your_ fault, you cretin!"

"And who was the one who assaulted first?" Ike glared back. He grabbed Zelda's wrist and roughly pulled her against him, much to Zelda's surprise. He was physically stronger than her.

"Look, _Princess_," he said in a low, even voice, his face mere inches from hers, "I don't know about you, but I'd like to participate in the next tournament. Right now, we're both off the chances of winning, much less entering that. So, if this is what puts us back on the radar, then I'm all for it… even if it means spending a whole week with _you_. Get it?"

Zelda just stared at him, but calm. She leaned in closer, their foreheads lightly touching. She glared at him; Ike saw the fire in her eyes.

"Only if _you_ behave," she forcibly wrenched her wrist from his tight grip, gave him one last second of a glare, turned around and power walked swiftly away and out of sight.

Ike smirked and looked at the spot the Princess had stood a few seconds before, "Women."


	2. Day 1: Part 1

_Thank you __**AlteaAuroraRia, Sergeant Daniel **__ and __**Souldin **__for your guys' reviews! I really appreciate it! Much love. _

**xOxIxOx**

"WHAT?" Peach screeched, slamming her hands on the table, rattling her tea cup and the porcelain plates. It was dinner time in the Smash Mansion dinner hall and Zelda had just finished filling in Peach of the cruel and unusual punishment the Master Hand had bestowed upon her and Ike.

"YOU CAN**NOT** BE SERIOUS," Peach added through gritted teeth, half excited, half flabbergasted. Other Smashers near their table turned their heads to see what the commotion was about.

"Peach!" Zelda stood up with her hands up in attempt to calm her friend, "Quiet down! You're making everyone send weird looks over here." Peach smoothed out her pink evening dress before slowly sitting down, huffing. Zelda did the same. Then there was a moment of awkward silence between the two princesses as they just stared at one another.

"Zelda…" Peach began. "Peach, I don't want to hear it," Zelda interrupted, rubbing her slender fingers on her temples, "I have already dealt with enough things with this day alone already. I don't need any more lecturing."

Peach frowned, "I wasn't going to lecture you. I was just going to give you a piece of advice."

Zelda's slim eyebrows slightly raised, "And what is that?"

"Don't get him cross again," Peach warned, "I don't want you getting hurt like today. And frankly, I, too, along with Master Hand, would want you to set things straight with Ike. If you're getting hurt because of your quarreling, I want it to stop." Peach really did look worried. Realizing this, Zelda sighed, and then gave Peach a small smile.

"Don't worry about me, Peach," Zelda said, "Even though I can't stand him, I guess I will just try."

"Yes," the pink princess said, smiling but then turned solemn, "Just make sure Link doesn't find out. He'd be worried sick. He gave Ike a hard time right before dinner in the training grounds. Now both of them don't seem to be friends anymore."

"Is that so?" At least now she had Link on her side. Whenever Ike and her would fight or have a disagreement, Link would have hard times picking a side, due to being friends with both. He would play as the peacemaker between the two, although his attempts didn't do much.

"Yes," Peach continued, "But I have to go Dear, Mario wants me to help him out with something after dinner. I'll see you back at our room later tonight, yes?" Peach got up and straightened her dress and puffed up her hair.

"Yes, of course," Zelda replied and with that, Peach left in a skip out of the dinner hall. She was now alone on their table. It was just usually her and Peach, but Samus, Jigglypuff and Link would sometimes join them on other occasions.

Sitting there, absentmindedly playing with the food on her plate, Zelda thought of what was possibly going to happen on her week alone with Ike. The part she worried most about was the everyday teamwork activities the Master Hand mentioned. She could never imagine herself working together with the man she hated most.

"How is this going to work?" Zelda frowned, mumbling as she eyed a piece of broccoli on her fork, twirling it as if to observe every detail of the vegetable. She frankly didn't want to be left out of the next tournament, but she honestly didn't want to be on "good" terms with the cretin of a mercenary.

She looked around the dinner hall for the first time since she entered for dinner. King Dedede and Bowser were having a contest to see who could eat the most before either passed out with a small crowd of other smashers around them cheering. Samus and Snake were having a serious conversation at one table in a corner. All the Pokémon and the Pokémon Trainer were sitting at one in the center, hungrily chowing down. Everyone else was dispersed, doing their own thing.

Then her eyes laid down upon Ike, who was sitting at a table with Marth, arms crossed. They both seemed to be absorbed into their conversation. Marth was the only one talking; Ike seemingly the listener. Zelda felt the heat in her slowly rise. The mere sight of Ike made her want to break something. There was no way in hell that she can spend a week…alone… with _him_.

Marth, out of the corner of his eye, caught sight of Zelda looking their way and leaned in a bit to whisper something to Ike. Eyebrow raised, she wondered what he was saying, not catching Marth noticing her gaze on them. Right then, Ike raised both his eyebrows and looked in Zelda's direction. Before she could turn away, their eyes met.

He smirked. Oh, how she hated the smirk. That handsome, attractive, masculine…

'WHAT AM I THINKING!' Zelda yelled in her head. She furiously shook her head and with one last, single second glance at Ike's and Marth's direction and grabbing hold of her dress, she stormed out of the dinner hall. Ike laughed after the large doors closed shut in a hurry.

"What is up with her?" Marth said, confused, "I've never seen Zelda that fazed before."

"It's called irresistible charm, my good friend," Ike said coolly leaning back with his hands on the back of his head, with a sly smile on his face, "Simply irresistible charm."

**xOxIxOx**

Zelda sighed as she dragged her Hyrulian suit-case like bag down the Great Hall in the middle of the mansion. She had packed in a hurry last minute in the morning, forgetting last night to gather her things.

It was close to noon and all the other smashers were heading to the cafeteria about to eat their hungry souls away. Zelda, more than anything at the moment, wished she could join them; she hadn't eaten breakfast that morning and it made the horrible feeling in her stomach even more unbearable. She continued on walking, rubbing her empty stomach in vain of hoping that it would make her feel better.

In the center of the Great Hall was a circular platform that the Smashers used to get to and from other worlds in a blink of an eye, simply called the Transporter. While she was frantically packing, a letter had been slipped under the slim crack of her dorm's door. Opening the letter by carefully removing the shiny, smash ball seal, she read the letter, "Noon. 12:00 pm. Great Hall. Transporter. Tardiness will result in extended punishment." Zelda sighed. The Master Hand really had a thing for being blunt.

When she reached the bottom platform, she heavily sat down in a huff, not caring if she wrinkled her dress. She laid her head on her hands and gazed at the clock. It read 11:58. She looked around the Great Hall and saw no sign of Ike. She sneered a little bit, thinking that if he was late he'd be the one to deal with an extra punishment. She thought too soon.

11:59.

"Ready for a week of hell, Princess?" a voice behind her suddenly said. She snapped her head around, caught by surprise. There was Ike, standing on the other side of the Transporter with his arms folded and a small sneer on his face. Right beside him was his own possessions in a brown parcel. She glared at him and quickly stood up.

But before Zelda could say something back, the Master Hand appeared in a flash of light in front of the two.

"Now, now," the Master Hand boomed, "I would like you both to try to get along for the next ten minutes…at least while I'm around. Gather your things and step onto the Transporter." Zelda and Ike obeyed without saying a word. They stood next to each other, parcels in hand and waited for the Master Hand to continue.

"Now, the Transporter will take you up, deep in the mountains just north of the mansion. You two will share living quarters and up there, you will find everything you need…well, mostly everything." Both raised their eyebrows. Mostly everything…?

"Anyway," Master Hand continued, "Like I have said yesterday: everyday, you two will be given a task that involves working together as a team. Those tasks WILL be completed. For every failure, the harder the trip home will be." Ike interrupted him, shaking his head.

"Wait, what?" he said incredulous, "What do you mean for every failure, the trip home will be more difficult?" The Master Hand chuckled.

"Of course, the place you will be staying at does not have a Transporter and I have made it so, on purpose. But, we'll get to that subject later. Now, along with those everyday tasks, there will also be periods of bonding. You two are required to dine with each other, participate in various exercises to get to know each other to the smallest detail, and as ridiculous as it may sound, take a walk with one another everyday in the morning. The other times, you are free to do what you wish."

'Master Hand, you've totally outdone yourself this time,' Zelda thought spitefully, folding her arms. His cruel and unusual punishment had just gotten crueler, when she thought it couldn't get any worse.

"No off you go. When you get there and after you've settled in, you'll receive your first task," Master Hand said. Suddenly, a bright ring of light engulfed the circular platform, blinding Zelda and Ike. She covered her eyes with her arm and felt the usual wind of the Transporter. The light and wind died down and Zelda opened her eyes.

They found themselves in front of what looked like smaller version of Smash Mansion. It was just like it, but the size of a single story mini house. Surrounding it were tall, large assortments of trees and fern bushes. In the distance, the splashing and rush of a river could be heard. West of the house stood a magnificent view into a valley, with the river snaking its way through it. Birds chirped while the slight breeze swayed the trees. Zelda actually found a liking to it. She smiled as she took in the fresh air, 'This is just like back home.'

Ike, not really caring for the beautiful surroundings, picked up his parcel and made his way to the front double doors. He put his hand on one of the knobs and turned to Zelda who was busy enjoying the fresh air.

"Hey Princess." She turned to him and glared, snapping out of it, "What?" Ike nodded towards the double doors, "Better get in here before I lock you out." The princess growled under her breath and picked up her bag and swiftly, but elegantly made her way towards him. Ike turned the knob, opening the door and the pair made their way in.

The interior, like the exterior, looked exactly the mansion, well the decorations and furniture anyway. There was only a small kitchen with a dining table and living room with two couches facing a screen on the wall, large windows on every wall except for one, where only one door stood.

"Wow," Ike said. Zelda looked around for another door, but there wasn't one. "If there's only one door…then that means…," she thought aloud, getting a weird look from Ike, "Oh no…" She dropped her bag and ran towards the only door in the house. She roughly opened it and looked inside. There were two twin beds right next to each other and in the middle a bedside table with two lamps.

Zelda shrieked as she clutched the door frame. Ike came rushing over, hearing her scream, "Holy crap, Princess, what the in the blazing hell happened?" He looked to where her eyes were seeing and smirked.

"Sharing a room? I sure hope you don't snore like a bullhorn, Princess." Zelda grabbed Ike's red cloak, "There is no way in HELL that I am going to share living quarters with YOU!" Ike took hold of her wrist and wrenched off her grip on his cloak.

"Easy, Princess," he glared at her, "It's not like I'd want to be anywhere _near_ you anyway." He walked over to one of the beds, the one on the right, threw his parcel beside the wooden frame and jumped onto the mattress, landing on his back.

Zelda fumed as Ike just closed his eyes and laid back with his hands behind his head. Zelda went to pick up her bag that she had dropped and went back inside the room. She placed it on top of the other bed and opened it to unpack. On the other side of room were two closest, both open with hangers on the rail. Zelda began to place her other clothes and things in the closet, ignoring the mercenary laying on his bed.

"You know," she heard him say behind him, "There really isn't a point in putting all your stuff in the closet. We're only going to be here for a week, not a year." Zelda looked over her shoulder to see him sitting up, with his elbows resting on his thighs, watching her.

"I very well know that, and thank the goddesses that I only have to deal with you for a week and not a year, but I wish to keep my things organized," she said flatly, continuing to unpack.

"Allllright then. Whatever you say Princess," Ike said getting up and stretching, taking off his cloak. Ike scratched his back as he walked over to the big window that almost took up the entire wall. He looked out and saw a view of the valley outside. It was gorgeous, he had to admit. He continued to gaze out the window while Zelda was finishing unpacking.

Suddenly a beeping sound came from the living room that caught both of their attention. They rushed into the living room and saw the screen on the wall flashing a dark blue. 'New Mail' it flashed, while still beeping.

"What are we supposed to do?" Ike turned to her with a questioning look; he was never really tech-savvy. Zelda looked around and saw a remote on one of the maroon couches. She quickly grabbed it and scanned the buttons and her instincts automatically made her press the "ENTER" button. But of course, it was only a guess.

With much luck, the screen blanked to a white and a message a few paragraphs long appeared. Zelda and Ike moved in closer to be able to read it.

"_Dear Princess Zelda and Ike, _

_Your rehabilitation begins now. Down in the following, I will give you your first task. But first things first, I know that both of you will have already found out that you will be sharing a room together and are probably, most likely, upset by it. __But I am trusting both of you not to murder each while sharing living quarters… and I also trust you both to not…engage in other 'actions'_." Zelda growled while Ike merely glared at the screen, _"Continuing, you will find all you need to eat in the kitchen and everything you need in the bathroom. Out back, you will find a shed that is filled with tools that you both will need later, seeing earlier that neither of you brought your weapons."_

"Were we supposed to bring them?" Zelda asked, more to herself than to Ike. He shook his head as they read on, "He didn't say anything about that before."

"_Now, onto your first task. Today, you will be both participating in the simplest task that I will give you during your week of rehabilitation. At precisely 2:00pm, be present at the back of the house, ready. I advise you both to wear anything that you can run in and in thin layers. So Princess Zelda, no dresses and Ike, no cloaks or capes. I mention this for you will be retrieving something for me. It's quick on its feet and has amazing agility. You may use anything in the shed to your liking, but I warn you that they might not help in any way at all. Be quick on your feet and be alert. I wish you both the best of luck. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Master Hand._

_P.S. Remember, when one eats the other eats, when one sleeps the other sleeps, and when one wakes the other wakes. So when one fails, the other fails. But not in the case of succession." _

"I hope that last bit doesn't also apply to bathroom purposes," Ike muttered, before going back to the room. Zelda stared at the screen.

The Master Hand was serious. He was totally serious about the everyday task. She shut down the screen and placed the remote on the table in front of one of the couches. Then she made her way back into the room where she found Ike laying on his bed again in the same position, shoes off.

"Hey," Zelda started to say before Ike interrupted her, looking at her with one eye open, "What? What do you want? If you haven't noticed I'm trying to get some shut eye. So if it isn't important, keep whatever you're going to say to yourself." She glared at him.

"Look, do you want to pass this task or not? Because you heard what Master Hand had said," Zelda hesitated, "Well, I don't know what exactly he meant but it bodes ill for both of us."

Ike sat up and laid his head on his palm, looking at Zelda tiredly, "Okay, I'm listening. You don't seem to want to keep your mouth shut." Zelda glared at him again with more fire, but let the comment slip.

"We need a plan if we want to make this work," she said sternly, "I don't know about you, but I'd like to make this week smooth. We need to complete all our tasks because personally, whatever the Master Hand said about heading home, I would like it to be easy. But first, we need to conquer this first task."

"Alright alright, I get what you're saying," Ike sighed, "Master Hand said that we were to catch something, and it's fast."

"Sonic?" Zelda thought out loud. The name Sonic always tied in with the word 'fast' to her.

"No, it can't be him. I don't think anyone's allowed up here but us."

"It must be an animal, then."

"A puma? Jaguar? Tiger? Fox?"

"None of those animals live up here, idiot," Zelda said, shaking her head.

"Whatever," Ike layed down again and faced his back to her, "Whatever it is we're going to have to catch, it'll be a cinch. Wake me up when we need to go." Ike didn't say anything more and Zelda just gave a big sigh in reply.

'So…what am I going to do for an hour?' she thought.

**xOxIxOx**

Yay! Done with part 1 for Day 1. Hope you guys enjoyed it! PLEASE, PLEASE, **PLEASE, **review! Any comments, suggestions, or concerns are welcome!


	3. Day 1: Part 2

_Thanks for the reviews you guys! And I know a couple of you had some comments about the last chapter and I'm taking those into account. Thanks for giving me critiques to make this story that much better. ^^ I revised Day 1: Part1. and thanks for the suggestions; I'm going to use them. Anyway, on with the story. _

**xOxIxOx**

Zelda made her way out the back door and out to the back of the house where Master Hand had said where the shed was. She had quickly changed into a tan tank top, brown mini shorts and her training boots and decided to go peruse through the shed for things that might be at least of use in their first task.

While walking, her head was frantically trying to shape up a plan. She had learned some hunting techniques from an old farmer (back in her younger days when she wanted escaped the walls of the castle) and she thought she'd finally put them to use. If Ike wasn't going to cooperate, Zelda thought that she might as well do all the work. After all, the objective was just to capture whatever it was they needed to capture right?

Zelda approached the red and white shed that rested beneath one of the tall oak trees surrounding the house. She opened one of the wooden doors, surprised that there was no lock. She peered inside. The roof had a glass window on top, allowing the sunlight to show through. But even so, it was still pretty dim.

The shed was filled with weaponry varying from bear traps, to spears, to swords and to bows. In one corner was a pile of thick ropes and a tangled pile of webbed nets. Everything was neatly organized into barrels and on hooks on the walls.

Zelda entered, eyeing the set of bows hanging on the far right side of the shed. She took what looked like the lightest of the bows and examined it. It was just like her own bow that was left back at the mansion but, of course, not of the same royal caliber.

After pondering over her options, advantages and disadvantages, she decided to take the hunter approach which involved the use of traps and projectiles, rather than the predatory pursuit that involved hunting close up. Zelda wondered if there were rules against killing the thing, whatever it was, since Master Hand had said nothing about it.

After a few minutes of wrapping up her possible plan, she rounded up four nets, a couple of bear traps and a rope. She quickly exited the shed with those things in hand, including the bow and a pack of arrows on her back. Zelda had to work fast to set up for she checked the sun's position up in the sky. It seemed like she only had about 45 minutes left until it would start.

She was determined to make this task a success, whether Ike chose to cooperate or not.

**xOxIxOx**

Ike woke up with a start. He had one of those cursed falling dreams before twitching, more like spazzing, awake. He quickly sat up and looked at the clock that was hanging over the door of their room. 1:45 it said. Ike looked around and saw no sign of the princess. "Whatever, she's probably pampering that vain face of hers," he muttered as he scratched his head while putting back on his boots. He was about to put on his usual red cloak before remembering what Master Hand had said.

'_Ike, no cloaks or capes.'_

The blue haired mercenary sighed. He had totally forgotten about the first task that was coming up in 15 minutes. Frankly, he honestly didn't want to work together with Zelda to capture the thing. All she would do is nag and get in the way, like she always has. Besides, his father had put him through training such as this back when he was pursuing to be a mercenary in his younger days. Whatever his father wanted him to catch, Ike captured it with ease, back faster than any other that Greil had trained.

Ike dug through his parcel and quickly changed into a pair of worn white shorts and a tight, sleeveless, v-neck black shirt. After all, Master Hand said to dress light and he figured that it would get hot.

He stretched his back and his sides before leaving the room and his cloak behind. Ike exited the house from the back door, not caring to find Zelda if she was anywhere inside the house. Was she even in there? He smirked to himself, imagining that she had decided to go exploring in the woods and getting lost, hopelessly trying to find her way back. Would serve that wench right.

His evil, maniacal and devious thoughts were cut short when an arrow zipped by his head, missing his right cheek by mere inches. "What the hell?" he exclaimed, turning around just in time to see the arrow hit an oak tree. Ike heard a feminine, petite laugh. He faced forward again to see Zelda with a large grin on her face, laughing almost hysterically yet softly.

"What are _you_ laughing at?" Ike said his voice forceful and annoyed, "You almost skewered me through the face! You better watch where you're aiming that, Princess." Zelda's laughing gradually died down as she regained her composure.

"Well you should be out of my way when I'm practicing my archery skills," she said glaring back at him, hands on her hips. She sneered sheepishly, "But you should have seen that ridiculous expression all over your face. It's simply hilarious." Ike glared at her. Before Ike could say anything back, Zelda nodded towards the shed.

"It's best for you to search in there for what you may need," Zelda put the bow around her petite frame before brushing past Ike to pry the arrow off the tree, "And by the way, don't ruin this. I've already set up traps around the perimeter. Do whatever your heart desires; just don't get in the way."

"Huh, looks like you've got everything all planned out already, Princess," Ike said, folding his arms, "I'll be laughing when you fail. I'll catch that thing with my bare hands without the help of traps or weaponry. Sit back and watch a real man at work."

Zelda rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, both heard an engine roar from above. They both looked up to see Falco's air ship hovering in the air with a metal crate in a claw's grasp beneath the aircraft. The claw loosened its grip and the metal crate was dropped a couple of meters from where Zelda and Ike were standing. The ground shook as heavy metal collided with hard earth.

Falco, before flying back off to the mansion, gave a thumb up down at the two and received a wave and a smile from Zelda and a nod from Ike in return. His aircraft then disappeared.

Zelda and Ike approached the metal crate slowly, but alert, ready for any surprises. It was rather large, almost as big as the shed. The front of the box looked liked a screen, identical to the one in the living room. It flashed a bright white and the image of Master Hand appeared.

"Master?" Zelda said incredulously, squinting her eyes.

"Good afternoon Princess Zelda and Ike," the voice of Master Hand boomed, "This is the beginning of your first task. Inside this metal crate is the creature you must capture. Before, I have forgotten to include certain rules in my letter to you."

"More rules?" Ike said, irritated. Why couldn't they just get on with it and capture the thing? There wasn't even a lot to it.

"Yes, Ike," Master Hand continued, "More rules. You may harm it to a certain extent but do not kill this creature. An accidental death or if you inflict great damage will result in failure of this task, keep that in mind. And also, you have a time limit. You have until sunset to capture it and put it back into this metal crate. Understood?"

Zelda nodded, apprehensive. Ike gave a huff, impatient. "Yeah."

"Good," Master Hand said. If he had a face there would have been a big grin on it, "I will start the countdown. At the end of it, the crate will open, signaling the start of the first task. It will be hard and brutal and all those things that I've already warned you about beforehand. Work together. It would make it that much easier. Good luck. " Master Hand's image disappeared and a countdown reel replaced it.

_10…9…8…7…6…5…4…_

Ike and Zelda braced themselves.

_3…2…1…_

The crate's front side with the screen swiftly slid up, showing a dark opening. Nothing happened. Ike and Zelda glanced at each other before slowly approaching the metal crate.

"Meow." They both raised their eyebrows. A small shadow came out trotting from the box and approached the two, stopping and sitting down a few feet away from them.

It was an orange cat. And a small one at that. Why would something as small as this be put in a crate that big?

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Zelda said, face palming, "Goddesses above! An adorable little kitten?" Ike could barely contain his laughter.

"Man did Master Hand lose it this time," he said, holding his stomach. The cat tilted its head and purred, observing the two in front of him.

Ike approached it and went down on one knee. "Hey there little guy. You don't look so-" suddenly the cat's cute face turned into a menacing scowl, baring its sharp teeth before swiftly pouncing on Ike like a deranged puma, catching him in surprise. "RAWWWR," it screeched, slashing Ike's cheek with its claws. "You little-!" Ike grabbed its leg and threw it yards away from him. The cat tumble rolled and landed on its legs, skidding into a stopped. It gave them one last hiss before running off into the woods, quicker than an ordinary cat.

"What the hell was that?" Ike yelled, covering his cheek that the cat had slashed. It was bleeding. Zelda snickered, "Huh, serves you right." She took the bow off around her torso and ran into the trees to where the cat disappeared, leaving Ike behind.

He growled and tried to ignore the painful stinging of his cheek before dashing right after her.

Zelda was right on its tail, well…from a distance. Master Hand was right. When he said that the thing was fast, he wasn't kidding. It took all of her focus to even keep it in her sights. The princess wasn't quite as fast as her alternate form, Sheik, giving her a disadvantage. If she wanted any hope of actually catching the feline, she would have to transform. But where was the time to? If she transformed right now, she would have to be at a full stop. She would lose a significant amount of time.

"Looks like I have to do a premature transformation," Zelda muttered. Focusing her magic while still keeping her trail after the cat, a bright blue light engulfed her for a split second. Zelda felt her legs go faster, stronger than usual. She had borrowed Sheik's strength and body power at the same time keeping herself Zelda. The downside of this magic was that it wasn't temporarily permanent, like her full transformation. She could only hold this form for so long.

'I have to catch this thing fast,' she thought. The cat's small, orange form was bouncing on and off trees, sliding in and out of bushes never going in a straight line.

"Getting tired already?" Ike had caught up with her, surprisingly. Without his usual clothing, armor and Ragnell, Ike was almost as fast as Sheik. "Get lost, cretin!" Zelda yelled, while dodging low branches and bushes and keeping her sights on the cat, "You'll only get in the way!"

"Can it, Princess! Just watch me," Ike sped up ahead of her, trailing the feline with ease. The cat jumped over a thick, fallen tree and somehow disappeared from sight. Ike raised an eyebrow, but kept on going. The cat shouldn't be far.

Just then, he realized how the cat had disappeared; just beyond the fallen tree was a deep ditch. In that split second, Ike barely had enough time to stop himself before falling into it face first. Suddenly, he felt Zelda crash into him from behind, sending them both toppling painfully into the ravine.

"Oof!"

Both of them landed hard on the hard, rocky ground, disgruntled and sore. "Watch where the hell you're going!" Ike yelled at the princess, while getting up and rubbing his behind. Zelda scowled at him while doing the same.

"Watch where _I'm_ going? Why in the name of goddesses did you stop in the first place?" she fingered his chest, "Now we've lost the damn creature and we'll have to scour the woods for it. This is all _your_ fault! I told you that all you would do is get in the way!"

Ike slapped her hand away from his chest and glared at her angrily, "I don't need this. Just shut your loud mouth and go play tea time or whatever the hell you royal asses do." And with that, he swiftly climbed his way, using the loose roots of the trees, out of the ditch to pursue the cat yet again.

Zelda could not believe this man. "How did I even get stuck with this insensitive, stubborn jerk?" she growled before quickly making her way out of the ravine herself.

**xOxIxOx**

"…They're doing pretty well, aren't they?" Samus said sarcastically. She, Marth, Link, Peach and a few other smashers were watching the ordeal in the mansion's large living room on the big television screen. The Master Hand had sent out a small camera probe to record the happenings of their first task. Just for the fun of it of course.

"This is so inhumane," Marth said, shaking his head disapprovingly, "Recording them without even their knowing and while during this ludicrous…event, it's ridiculous. Master Hand's really done it this time."

"If you don't like it, then why are you watching it, bonehead?" Samus said. Marth's eye twitched as he looked away, silenced.

Meanwhile Link was having a hard time watching. He had just found out about Zelda and Ike's punishment ordeal and he was flipping out about it. Link was worried sick.

"Relax, Link," Peach said, attempting to be cheerful even though she didn't like it as much as he did, "I'm sure Zelda will be fine. I know and you know that she's been through worse."

"But what if something happens to her? It's supposed to be my job to protect her. I can't believe Master hand actually went through with this." Link slumped onto one of the couches in front of the TV next to Marth. Samus folded her arms, sitting down also with one leg over the other, "Oh can it, Link. If she can handle a fight with Ganondorf, she can handle time with Ike. So keep your cool."

Link sighed as he continued to watch, his eyes glued on the screen. 'I hope you're right,' he thought to himself.

**xOxIxOx**

Zelda had lost track of both Ike and the cat; she already had been too far behind. She was running around the forest for what felt like hours. She cursed under her breath. She took account of how far they've gone from their starting point, the house. She estimated two miles.

This chase was dragging on longer than it should be. She only had another half hour of her magic to maintain her premature Sheik form and without it; it would be deemed hopeless to have the cat back in the crate before sunset. Speaking of sunset…

Zelda stopped in her tracks and looked up at the sun. It was lower than it was before. She faced what she believed was north, looked down at her shadow and used herself as a sun dial. "Noon…one…two…three…four." She counted, observing her shadow's position. It was already four o'clock. There was only and hour and a half before sunset. How in the name of goddesses did time speed by so fast?

Zelda started up her search again, swiftly perusing the perimeter deciding to check her set traps to see if the cat had fallen victim to any of them.

Nothing. No. Empty. Untouched. Still hidden. Nada. After she had checked all of them, she plumped down onto a large tree root, exhausted. All that running not only drained her magic, but her physical strength. There was no hope now, for she could already feel the strength of Sheik fading away and the last of her magic fading along with it. Zelda exasperatedly let out a sigh while dropping her bow on the ground. There was no use for it, for Master Hand said not to kill it.

Suddenly, a scream of pain came from somewhere ahead of her. It sounded like Ike. Zelda quickly grabbed her bow from the ground and ran with the last of Sheik's strength to where she heard Ike's scream came from.

Rushing past rows of bushes she finally caught sight of Ike. But something was wrong. He had his hand over his left shoulder and she could see trickles of blood dripping down on his arm. In front of him, a few feet away was a large wild wolf and in its mouth, the orange cat, alive but scurrying to get free from the wolf's teeth. Zelda stopped in her tracks, far enough to be out of sight.

"Let go of that cat, you overgrown dog!" Ike yelled angrily, letting go of his bleeding shoulder and balling up his bloodied hands into fists. The wolf crouched as if to pounce and growled, making the cat hiss and screech out of fear.

Zelda was not going just stand there helplessly. She let go of the last of Sheik's premature form and swiftly sent a Din's Fire spell with the last of her remaining magic to where the wolf stood. The wolf, out of the corner of its eye, saw the quickly fireball coming and dodged it the last second. The fireball landed on the ground, making an explosion and leaving a small hole in the ground.

The wolf looked around, scanning the trees and bushes, frantically trying to find who had sent the attack at him. 'This is my chance!' Zelda thought, pulling at an arrow from the pack on her back and preparing her bow. With the Wolf distracted, this was her golden chance to take it down.

She carefully aimed the arrow at the wolf's front shoulder, not intending to kill it but at least to immobilize it. Without her knowing, Ike also saw this as his own golden opportunity, not caring where the fireball had come from. He charged at the wolf and tackled it head on right at the same time Zelda let go of her arrow. It was flying at a fast speed.

Right after she let go, Zelda gasped in realization at what Ike had done. He had knocked the wolf from where it was standing and now he was in her line of fire. "IKE!" she screamed. The arrow bore itself into the back of his already wounded shoulder, making him scream in agony, falling to the ground.

"IKE!" Zelda yelled again. She ran as fast as she could to where Ike had fallen, absent mindedly throwing the bow aside. When she reached him, she caught sight of the wolf's tail before it swiftly disappeared into the trees, with the cat still in its jaws. It had taken the opportunity to escape.

Ike was in pain, his face showed it all. Zelda kneeled next to him reaching out to pull the arrow out of his shoulder. But Ike grabbed her wrist and squeezed it so hard that the princess yelped in pain. "Don't touch it," he said through gritted teeth. Ike sat up and let go of Zelda's wrist. He pulled the arrow out with ease, but not without wincing in pain. He threw it to the side.

Zelda glared at him, her worry fading away being replaced with anger, "You should have stayed where you were, you moron! I would have had him if you haven't gotten in the way! And this isn't the first time that you've-"

Ike got up and held his still bleeding shoulder and rudely cut her off, "Will you shut your damn mouth for once? Princess, you talk way too much. Do me a favor and just shut your face." He started walked off, not waiting for a reply, turning his back on her.

"And just _where_ do you think you're going?" Zelda yelled. Ike stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder, "Back. There's no point in trying to get that damned cat now. That wolf would have already eaten it or taken it to its puppies or whatever the hell wolves do with their food. I don't know about you, Princess, I'm going home." Ike didn't wait for her and kept on walking.

Zelda glanced at where the wolf had disappeared, half wanting to go after it but half wanting to go back too. But Ike was right; the cat would already have been dead by now. So what was there left to do?

She sighed before reluctantly following Ike back to the house. "And I was actually worried about this jerk for a second," Zelda scoffed to herself.

**xOxIxOx**

It was evening now and the sun was replaced by the moon up in the sky. The air was now cool and the atmosphere lighter. Earlier, Falco had returned with his air ship to retrieve the metal crate. And seeing that it was empty, he muttered a low apology to both Ike and Zelda before leaving to go back to the mansion.

Ike had found a first aid kit under the sink in the bathroom and was tending to his wound ever since, muttering profanities to himself and ignoring Zelda's attempts to apologize. Meanwhile, Zelda was outside, now in one of her night gowns, sitting on the front porch of the house and gazing up at the stars. She was exhausted. It was nice to feel the cool air embracing her face and swooning through her wet hair. She had taken a shower a few minutes ago.

Their first task was a failure. How would Master Hand react to it? What would he say? And what worried her more was what he said about every failure. "The harder the trip home will be," he had said. That didn't sound too good.

_Beep beep beep beep._ The beeping sound came from the living room again. New Mail. Zelda got up and straightened out her dress before quickly going back inside. Ike had heard it too, coming out of the bedroom with his shoulder in gauze. Without giving as much as a glance at him, Zelda took hold of the remote, pointed it at the screen and hit enter.

The screen flashed to reveal another letter from Master Hand.

"_Dear Princess Zelda and Ike, _

_I'm saddened to be informed that you have failed your first task. That is already one strike against you. But fret not, for you have six other chances, with the last being your most difficult test. I understand that you both are exhausted from today so I will leave you for the night. Sleep well and rest easy. Remember, tomorrow morning you both have that morning stroll together. _

_Much love, _

_Master Hand._

_P.S. __When one eats the other eats, when one sleeps the other sleeps, and when one wakes the other wakes. So when one fails, the other fails. But not in the case of success." _

After finishing reading the letter, Ike went back to the bedroom without saying as much as a comment or rude remark. Zelda turned off the screen and went into the bedroom right after him. She stopped at the doorframe and leaned on it. Ike was laying on his bed with his uninjured arm behind his head. Zelda watched him for a few moments before Ike noticed.

"What are you looking at?" he said, frowning at her.

"Would you like to eat dinner?" Zelda asked, emotionless. If she was to eat, he had to too. Ike looked at her for a few seconds before replying.

"No," he got under his sheets and turned to his side, his back to her, "I'm going to sleep." The princess sighed. There was no budging him now. Zelda was too tired to argue, so she just decided to give in. Sleep with an empty stomach.

She climbed into her bed and got under the covers, not bothering to turn off the lamp. She faced her back to Ike and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.

Ike looked over his shoulder and back down. "Ridiculous I can't believe you're actually following his rules," he said.

Zelda sighed. "Me either, Ike, me either."

**xOxIxOx**

_I know, I'm sorry that this chapter isn't much but I hope you guys enjoyed it even a little bit! Please Review? ^_^ I'd like to have some suggestions of what you would like to see them for for the next tasks so send me your ideas! Feedback would be great too. _


	4. Day 2: Part 1

_Oh man, I haven't updated in almost two years LOL well here I am resurrecting this fic haha enjoy! And also take the time to read my new Final Fantasy VII fic The Last Vendetta! _

**-xOxIxOx-**

_Zelda was not going just stand there helplessly. She let go of the last of Sheik's premature form and swiftly sent a Din's Fire spell with the last of her remaining magic to where the wolf stood. The wolf, out of the corner of its eye, saw the quickly fireball coming and dodged it the last second. The fireball landed, making an explosion and leaving a small hole in the ground._

_The wolf looked around, scanning the trees and bushes, frantically trying to find who had sent the attack at him. 'This is my chance!' Zelda thought excitedly, pulling at an arrow from the pack on her back and preparing her bow. With the Wolf distracted, this was her golden chance to take it down._

_She carefully aimed the arrow at the wolf's front shoulder, not intending to kill it but at least to immobilize it. Without her knowing, Ike also saw this as his own golden opportunity, not caring where the fireball had come from. He charged at the wolf and tackled it head on right at the same time Zelda let go of her arrow. It was flying at a fast speed._

_Right after she let go, Zelda gasped in realization at what Ike had done. He had knocked the wolf from where it was standing and now he was in her line of fire. "IKE!" she screamed. The arrow bore itself into the side of his head, throwing his body back from the momentum before his body fell onto the floor like a lifeless rag doll. _

_"IIIIIIIKE!" Zelda shrieked._

"PRINCESS!" Zelda heard somebody yell forcefully as she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, vigorously shaking her awake. "WAKE THE HELL UP!" Her eyes shot open and saw that it was dim and even dimmer seeing that Ike's statuesque was looming over her. He looked groggy, annoyed and irritated as he continued to shake her, "WAKE UP GODDAMNIT!"

Zelda's body was in a cold sweat; she could feel her body unusually getting hot. She took the side of her hand and wiped the drops of trailing sweat from her forehead, quickly sitting up. Ike stopped shaking her, seeing that she was finally awake.

"What in the **hell** was that about, Princess?" Ike hissed, "You were screaming like some deranged banshee. Some of us are trying to sleep." Zelda rubbed her face with sweaty her hands, trying to gain her composure. She now had a massive headache. She looked at him.

"I was what…?" she asked incredulously. Ike scoffed and rolled his eyes as he sat down back on his bed and fold his arms and slumped, "You heard me. Damn, my ear drums were about to explode."

Zelda merely stared at him as she tightly clutched her blanket. Had she really been screaming? Had she been thrashing around so much that it woke up the mercenary sleeping soundly beside her? And she remembered the dream so vividly. She had screamed his name. Had he heard it?

"Princess. Princess? PRINCESS?" Ike said loudly, clearly agitated, "Are you even listening to me?" Zelda snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head to get her mindset back. She really didn't feel like having to deal with him right now. It was probably five in and morning and she barely got any sleep. Plus, after that nightmare, she really didn't feel like going back to sleep either.

"Save it, Ike," Zelda murmured as she got out of her bed and stood, her back facing him. She grabbed a ribboned tie on her side table and quickly tied her hair up into a ponytail before heading to the bathroom, passing by Ike as she did. She turned on the faucet and splashed her face with warm water, hoping that it would be at least of help in easing her headache and calm her nerves.

"What's your deal?" Zelda looked up and saw Ike leaning against the door frame of the bathroom with his arms crossed and eyes observing. Zelda turned to face herself in the mirror, both hands resting on the cold marble. Not getting a response, Ike sighed and looked at her reflection on the bathroom mirror and their eyes met.

"Do you want to eat breakfast?" he hesitantly asked.

Zelda looked at him incredulously. What did he just say?

"Excuse me?"

Ike rubbed the back of his neck and shoved his other hand into his pocket while still locking his eyes with hers, "You heard me. Do you want to eat breakfast or not? I'm not about to repeat myself again."

Had Ike, the man that hated her guts and detested her presence, actually offered a helping hand? Man, that nightmare must have been worse than she thought.

She examined his face, looking to see if any deception could be seen. But she found none. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Yes, that sounds nice," she finally said. Ike nodded as he got up from leaning against the doorway.

"Alright, I'll go see what Master Hand's put in the kitchen," he said, walking out of the room without looking at her again. Zelda looked at his departing back then back at her reflection in the mirror. The fact that Ike had actually offered to help boggled her mind, kindling a sort of hope that this might not be as bad as she expected it to be. Wait, hope? Hope for this trip to be smooth or hope for amends between them? Well either way…

It's a start.

**-XoxIxoX- **

Breakfast wasn't bad. It surprised Zelda how able Ike was in preparation of food. The look of her surprise at the dishes of eggs, waffles, sausages and an omlette prepared at the table after she tidied herself up received a smug smirk on Ike's face.

"A mercenary's gotta know how to take care of himself you know," he had said, "Plus Peach forced me cook with her."

They had eaten breakfast in silence, seemingly ignoring the other's presence from across the table. The air was awkward, with a small tension lingering.

The sun had finally risen after they finished eating, cascading the windows with rushes of light that illuminated the insides of the building. Of course, they both remembered their morning routine requirement: take a morning walk together. They both got ready into warm clothes, for the morning air was still chilly and set out, locking the door as they left.

They saw a sign that was unnoticed the day they arrived toward the west side of the house that led to a path in between the tall trees surrounding it. _The Trail Where the Two Most Stubborn Pair Will Hopefully Find Amends Before Killing Each Other (2 miles/3.2 kilometers around home) _the sign said. The two rolled their eyes, not impressed with Master Hand's small joke, before starting on the path.

They were both silent for many moments, not acknowledging each other's presence but however still keeping the same walking pace. Birds could be heard chirping away in the background, the rustle of leaves sounded left and right and the crunch of dirt and pebbles under the feet filled the silent air between them.

"So how is this walk supposed to work?" Ike broke the silence, shoving his hands in his pockets. Zelda didn't look at him but wrapped her scarf closer to her neck and sighed.

"I don't know," she bluntly replied. She then glanced at him from the corner of her eye, feeling like thanking him for earlier was appropriate. But frankly, she found it hard to thank the person who's been tormenting her and clashing heads with for the longest time. It was hard to even say hello.

"Thank you," she finally murmured after another few silent moments. Ike looked at her as they continued to walk with one of his brows slightly raised.

"Thanks for what?"

"For offering to make breakfast," she said, looking straight ahead. Ike smirked.

"I'm not that heartless, Princess," he said, "I'm a mercenary with honor; I don't leave anyone to suffer. Besides, I was hungry anyway. I didn't eat least night."

_Neither did I because of you,_ Zelda said in her head. They were silent again and they stayed silent as they passed the _1 mile_ marker which, much to their lack of amusement, was accompanied by a humorous message: _"You both made it halfway alive! Congratulations." _

"So Princess," Ike began, breaking the silence again, "Mind me asking what that was about this morning? Your screaming was driving me nuts." Zelda bit her lip, debating on whether to tell him about her nightmare about her boring an arrow into his head. If she were to tell him, he'd most likely ridicule her for being such a weakling, or better yet, being a little creepy for dreaming about him in the first place.

She decided not to tell him.

"Nothing," she quickly said a little too aggressively, "It's none of your business." Ike rolled his eyes.

"Alright fine," he said irritated, "Be that way. I don't understand why you regal people have such long sticks up your asses."

"Excuse me?" Zelda stopped in her tracks as she tugged the scarf from her mouth. Ike continued to walk but then stopped a few paces ahead of her and turned around.

"You perfectly heard what I just said, Princess," Ike snapped, "You royal people are so condescending that you've got no room in your vainness to respect others that you consider "below you". It's pretty sad really. You all take things up the ass too. But whatever, not my problem." He shrugged and then continued to walk without a second glance back at her.

Zelda was fuming. No respect? Did he really dare say that to her when she mustered up the effort to actually thank him for earlier? The nerve of this man… If it's anyone who has no respect, it's him.

She huffed and turned around and began walking the other way back to the mansion. She was not about to walk behind in Ike's tracks.

No way.

**-XoxIxoX- **

_Sorry for the veeeery long absence and the poor excuse of a chapter to make up for it guys. :( I hope you guys still enjoyed it! End Day 2: Part 1. _


	5. Day 2: Part 2

_Here's the next chapter! And it's a loooong one so I hope it makes up for my hiatus and the last chapter haha. Thanks for remaining loyal readers! _

_And sorry if there are any inaccuracies; I haven't played any of the Legend of Zelda games. Also, please drop a review if you have any suggestions for future tasks! and for constructive criticism :) _

_Read, review, enjoy! _

**-XoxOxoX-**

Zelda finally made it back to the house after quickly walking back around the trail from where they had come. Her strides were long, angry, with one of her hands clutching the scarf around her mouth and the other swinging stiffly at her side.

How dare he say something like that to her! How dare he make such a rude remark even after she mustered up her will to thank him! He was talking about respect? He shouldn't be talking if he can't even appreciate appreciation.

She didn't understand why he was so… difficult. He was never this "difficult" with anyone else despite his sense of superiority. But even then, his relations with anyone else weren't as bad as they were between the two of them.

Zelda halted at the door for she realized that she couldn't open it.

Ike had the key.

'_Goddesses…'_Zelda sighed has she threw her hands up in the air with exasperation. She looked around the greenery around her, wondering if Ike had already gone inside and locked the door or if he was still making his way back. Well, she did walk back in haste from anger. Ike could have been taking his sweet ass time.

Zelda knocked anyway, not intending to give him the benefit of the doubt. When there was no response, she knocked harder impatiently. No response. The princess sighed and sat at the end of the porch with a plop. Maybe he really was taking his sweet time.

She sat there for what seemed like an eternity, looking around the scenery surrounding her, before she heard the screen beeping inside. Goddesses, it was time for the next task and Ike hasn't come back yet. Can the man make anything else more difficult? Zelda sighed and rested her chin down on her hand again.

"Apologies, Master Hand," she muttered to herself, "But I can't get to your message because some irresponsible idiot-" Suddenly, the door behind her clicked open and she spun around to see Ike standing there glaring at her.

"Call me an idiot again and I really will leave you out here," he said with his eyes piercing hers. Zelda quickly stood up with her mouth slightly open, as she returned his fiery glare.

She couldn't believe him. He was inside the whole time and even after all her knocking he decided to ignore her. The nerve of this man!

"Forget it. Our next task is here."

Zelda pushed past him with her shoulder, not intending to deal with him any more since there was a task already ready for them. She made her way to the living room and took the remote while Ike closed the door. She pressed enter and the message appeared.

"_Dear Princess Zelda and Ike, _

_I'm sorry to be informed that both of you can't even complete your morning stroll. Please learn to deal with each other, no matter how hard it is to swallow your pride. For your failure to complete even that simple assignment, your next task will be more difficult." _

Zelda glared at the screen with a fiery passion. She physically felt the tension between her and Ike even as they stood there facing the screen. Whose fault was this? Definitely his. And now they're both being penalized by it.

"_Your second task will involve wit, agility, patience and yes, you guessed it, team work. Outside, beside the weapons shed, is an underground door. Open it and descend. I will be waiting to give you further instructions. Again, dress lightly but this time, carry no weapons with you. Please be timely."_

The message was short and straightforward. The pair stood there for a few more moments before Ike made his way first to their room, intending to change. Zelda followed him, quickly grabbing her training clothes from her closet and passed by Ike to the bathroom.

She was not looking forward to this.

**-XoxOxoX- **

Zelda didn't notice it when she explored the insides of the weapons shed the day before. But there it was, what looked like metal doors, sitting on the ground right beside the shed. As they approached it, the doors slid open by themselves making them both suspicious if their actions were being watched. After all, Master Hand had always been a little sadistic.

They both exchange hesitant glances, seeing the start of stairs and the darkness below, before Ike descended down first with out another look or word.

'_So much for ladies first,'_ Zelda thought to herself, rolling her eyes before following him. The descent was pitch black so both had slowly make their way down, wary of what would come next. The sound of their shoes stepping on metal rang in the air; the sounds travelling far made the setting feel very wide and open.

Ike and Zelda came up to the end of the stairs and a flat platform before lights completely illuminated their surroundings. Revealed before them, about 20 feet below, was an obstacle course that was lined with walls like a maze, however only having one direct path that ended at the other side of the very spacious room. Steps in front of them descended downward to the entrance of the course.

The path snaked with twists and turns, with every 500 feet having a square space that was home to different dangerous obstacles. There were five squares in total and from what they could see, the course was heavily armed with all sorts of barricades, armaments and defenses that ranged from spikes to blades to holes on the ground and walls.

On the other side of the course was another similar platform with a bigger version of their screen on the wall above it. Below the screen stood two metal doors that were tightly shut- evidently their exit. A staircase led from the last square up to the platform.

Behind them, they heard their entrance shut closed. Now, there was only one way out; no going back.

The big screen across from them suddenly flashed white and an image of Master Hand appeared.

"_Welcome,"_ his big voice boomed, _"This is your second task and as you can see from the scene before you, your assignment is to make your way through this course and make it to the other side. You are not timed. However…" _

In front of each of them, two balls of light emerged from thin air, harboring what looked like a belt with five crystals hanging from the edges. They held out their hands to catch the accessory and the lights disappeared.

"_You are required to wear this belt that holds five crystals and you are to protect each of them. Every one of the five obstacles you will face has stalfos, attempting to steal one crystal at each square. If all your crystals are stolen by the end of course, you fail your task. In order to succeed, both of you need to reach the end with at least one crystal each, so work together. If one of you reaches the end first, you both fail. Is that understood?" _

Zelda and Ike both nodded, wrapping the belts around their hips.

"_Descend down the steps to the start of the course. Good luck." _And with that, Master Hand's image disappeared.

"Stalfos," Ike said as they made their way down the steps, "What in the hell are those?" Zelda glanced at him.

"They're from my world," she replied, "They're the remains of dead warriors whose will to fight hasn't died yet. Ganondorf must have aided Master Hand in this since I know of no other who has the ability to be able to control them here." They reached the bottom of the steps to the bare entrance of the course. The path twisted to the right so they couldn't see what was up ahead.

"Nasty creatures."

"We better not fail this, Princess," Ike said glaring at her, "I'm not about to cover you the whole way." Zelda scoffed.

"I'm perfectly capable and I don't need you to watch over me," she said, "Now, let's make haste so we can get this over with." Without another word, the Hylian ran into the start of the path and disappeared at the turn. Ike shook his head and followed her.

As he made the turn, he could see what was up ahead- their first obstacle: a small army of stalfos waiting for their arrival, weapons and shields at the ready. It looked easy enough to him. These stalfos didn't look so tough.

Zelda had stopped at the entrance to the first square allowing him to catch up with her.

"What are we waiting for?" Ike said, "There's not that many of them; we can easily cut through to the square's exit." He started to make his way towards the small army that was intently eyeing their crystals but was quickly stopped by Zelda's arm that blocked his chest.

"No, not yet," she said, eyeing the stalfos back, "It's not like them to just stand there when they see the enemy. I don't understand why they're still stagnant. We have to proceed with caution or else we'll fall into a trap!"

"Master Hand said there were stalfos at every obstacle," Ike said, impatient with her hesitance, "They're probably just stuck in their specific squares. Either way, I'm not about to just stand here and ponder that!" Ike pushed past her arm and charged into the square, breaking through an invisible wall that shattered with translucent shards.

'_A barrier!' _Zelda thought in her head_, 'That's what's keeping them back.'_

She rushed right behind Ike who had started his barrage on the stalfos, punching and kicking before they even had the chance to swing at him. A small group of them charged at Zelda with their weapons at the ready and their mouths wide open in a battle cry. She reacted quickly, spinning in Nayru's Love offensively, knocking them out backwards.

Two more appeared behind her, jabbing a sword aimed at her abdomen which she quickly dodged. She then channeled her magic to her hands and with a burst, sent the two stalfo flying in pieces.

She glanced over at Ike as more charged her way and saw that he was breaking down much of the stalfo with one swift punch or kick. He certainly didn't need a sword to fight. With bone crunching blows he took down three for every one Zelda took on.

Punch.

Kick.

Din's Fire.

Nayru's Love.

Smash.

More punches.

And more kicks.

"Getting tired over there, Princess?" Ike called over to her in amusement as he crushed two skulls together with ease. He took down two more with a kick behind him without even having to look. Zelda casted a spell that cracked three stalfos backwards on two of them that were charging.

"Not one bit," the princess grunted has she sent a kick empowered with magic flying at a skeleton's face, "Yah!"

Zelda noticed that one of the creatures was quicker than the rest; it held no weapon or wore no armor.

'_For speed,_' Zelda thought to herself. As it sparred with her, it made more attempts to nab one of the crystals hanging from her belt, reminding her that the crystals were still indeed there and in play. _'Keep your distance and you be fine.' _She extended the distance between her and the stalfo and sent a Din's Fire spell towards it, exploding on contact and destroying the skeleton.

With much less stalfo in number to face on her side of the square, she stole another glance at Ike to check his progress. The mercenary was too busy paying his attention to two stalfo, wrestling them off for they got too close, to notice the stealthy one sneaking up behind him to steal the crystal. Zelda's eyes widened for she the skeleton was just a few feet away from nabbing one hanging off his belt.

"IKE! BEHIND YOU!" she cried, noticing too late that one stalfo had come up behind her and kicked her in the back.

"What?" Ike turned his head, still trying to hold his own against the two stalfo against him, to see Zelda on the ground firing spells at a group of the skeletons charging towards her. He stole a look behind him and saw the stealthy stalfo running away with one of his crystals in hand and with a cackle-like expression on its skeletal face.

"NO!" A surge of emergency ran through him as he overpowered the two in front of him with a strong smash to their skulls, breaking their bodies into pieces. He ran after the thief and was about to pounce on it by stomping on its head before it disappeared in a quick puff of black smoke.

"Damn," Ike cursed as he punched the ground where the stalfo disappeared. He looked up to see Zelda destroying the last of the army off with a powerful Din's Fire spell. With the last in pieces, she sighed and looked over to Ike with a frown.

"You lost one didn't you?" Ike merely glared at the ground, not replying. Zelda brushed dirt from her arms and back.

"There are stealthy stalfo that I've never seen before- the ones that are unarmed," she said, "The others only serve as a distraction... one second with your guard focused on them and one of your crystals are gone."

Ike straightened up and walked towards the exit of the square.

"Whatever, let's go."

**-XoxOxoX-**

The next obstacle they emerged with only few scratches and managed to keep all their remaining crystals. Zelda still with five. Ike with four.

In the second square, the stalfos were fewer in number, however the flamethrowers and projectiles flying their way from all directions and heavy pendulum blades didn't make the situation any easier. Ike had cleverly figured out to use the square's offense as their defense, luring the stalfo into the line of fire or into the way of the blades to destroy them. They were even able to evade the stealthy ones, however with more struggle.

The third square proved to be more difficult, for the whole obstacle was a deep pool of dark water with little platforms floating in a scattered manner. Overhead was a grid of bars with vines wrapped around them with beautiful intricacy. Not wanting to waste time, the two broke through the entrance barrier and decided to jump the platforms to get across. It seemed easy enough; there were no enemies in sight.

But from their first jump, they realized that it was much more difficult than they thought. Many stalfo appeared from below with such unpredictability from the darkness of the water. They climbed onto the platforms and jumped on top of the bars ready to fight.

Zelda tightened her fists and looked around her, adjusting the width of her legs for better balance on the wet platform in apprehension. It was unknown to many fellow smashers, but the princess was deathly afraid large bodies of water- much less a body that was pitch black with skeletons emerging from its depths. Zelda had to be extra careful.

Next to her on a separate platform, Ike stood with ease in his fighting stance, a deep crease in his brow and a snarl on his lips ready to take them on.

"COME GET SOME!" he roared, already jumping from his platform to attack a nearby enemy.

Around them, stalfo began to make their approach, swinging from bars with their weapons in their teeth, easily hopping platforms, and swimming towards them. From the corner of her eye, Zelda caught a glance of one of the stealthy swinging like a monkey on the bars above.

She regained her focus in time to see one stalfo about to climb her platform before blasting it away with a spell that was almost a second too late. More were coming her way and if she stayed on the same platform, she'd be cornered for sure. Zelda jumped into the air the same time two of the skeletons jumped down from the bars and casted Farore's Wind, knocking them into pieces before she disappeared and teleported just right below the bars.

She quickly caught hold before she plummeted into the dark waters below. With one hand, she casted spells all around her to fend the stalfo off. _'This was not a very good idea,' _she yelled in her head.

"HEY!" she heard Ike yell from below, "BEHIND YOU!"

Zelda's eyes widened, realizing that a stealth stalfo was most likely right behind her ready to nab one of her crystals. She turned her head around in time to see it reach for one of them jingling from her belt. In alarm, she swung away from it and let her grip on the bars go, aiming to land on one of the platforms below.

She had forgotten the surface was wet.

Zelda slipped when her boot made contact with the platform and fell backwards into the dark water with a yelp.

"PRINCESS!" she heard Ike yell before she felt the black water engulf her in its waves. This was exactly what she was dreading. Real panic had completely taken over her whole body, distorting her mind and her senses. Her thoughts went berserk with fear.

Suddenly she felt bony hands clamping around her arms and legs, making her scream her breath into the water. This was not good. She was helpless down here and stalfos were dragging her down into the depths of the darkness that blinded her sight and gave life to her fears.

IKE! HELP!

-**XoxOxoX-**

"Oh no," Peach breathed with her hand gripping the ruffles on her chest.

"Princess Zelda!" Ness, Lucas and Pit cried.

"No!" Samus exclaimed.

Almost all the smashers were gathered in the living room to watch Ike and Zelda's situation with the second task. Some for amusement, some from boredom and some with genuine concern.

Link stood up from his seat in panic, aware of his Hylian companion's deathly fear of water. His hands were balled up into tight fists, so tight the smashers around him expected blood to suddenly drip.

Oh, how he wished her were there to protect her, how he wanted to just dive into the water, how he just wanted to beat the living hell out of Master Hand for incorporating such a horrific attribute to the course while knowing Zelda's fear well.

The whole room was silent with the cheering suddenly stopped from what they had just seen, staring at the screen before Wolf broke the silence.

"Ten bucks, Ike doesn't go in after her," he sneered with his bet.

"Twenty bucks, he does," Fox calmly said.

Link angrily turned to them. They were _betting_? How could they bet with such a situation as this? But deep down, he strongly hoped Fox's bet would be the one to emerge true. If he, himself, wasn't able to save her... the Ike better get his ass into the water.

And soon enough, after fending off the last of the stalfo above water with swift blows, Ike hopped platforms towards where Zelda had disappeared before diving into the water with no hesitation.

Wolf groaned in defeat and Fox lightly laughed, holding out his hand to the humanoid beside him.

"Pay up."

-**XoxOxoX-**

Zelda felt like her lungs were collapsing from the lack of air. Why did she have to scream? Air was precious and she had wasted it in alarm.

But what now? She was immobilized, unable to cast spells or even to break free of the skeletons' hold. Was this it for her?

In her painful struggle against the skeletons' grips with no air, she suddenly felt them release one by one until she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and pulled her upwards towards the seemingly non-existent surface. Zelda then felt her face burst through the water and struggled to take in a breath of air while spitting water out of her mouth.

Her senses were still distorted but she heard Ike yell beside her, "CAST A SPELL! 12 O'CLOCK!" Still in a state of panic she obeyed the command with no hesitation, hearing the crackling of bones as she let her magic leave her fingertips.

She then felt Ike's arms around her waist again, pulling her through the water towards the other end of the square- the exit. He grabbed her waist and pushed her up from the water and up to the exit's platform.

Zelda's body felt weak as she just laid there on her stomach, legs still in the water as she heard Ike emerge from the water himself and plopped himself right next to her on his back. Their heavy and fast breathing and the splashing of the water was all that she could hear.

She turned her head to face him.

"Thank you, Ike," she breathed, physically struggling to get the words out. He turned his head towards her but didn't reply, only breathing like a dog. They were both exhausted and wet.

"Your crystals," Ike murmured between pants. Zelda's alarm briefly returned when she quickly sat up to check her belt.

There were two left.

Seeing that she had lost three crystals at once completely overwhelmed her body with more exhaustion, causing her to plop back down on the platform, closing her eyes in frustration. She had let her weakness get the best of her and now she was down three crystals on the third obstacle. How could she have let this happen? Zelda now couldn't afford to lose any more, for if she would, they'd surely fail the task.

Ike had lost only one crystal through the ordeal, fortunately enough. But nonetheless, he was down one more. They laid there for more moments in silence, trying to regain their composure and at least a little of their strength.

"Thank the Goddesses we're not timed," Zelda said when their breathing calmed down and the strength to sit up came back. Ike scoffed and ruffled the water out of his hair.

"We would have failed already," he said, getting up and rolling his shirt to get the water out of it. Zelda struggled to stand up, not noticing that she had grabbed Ike's arm for support.

"Oh, my apologies," she said, noticing his wince to her touch. She straightened up feeling her strength slowly come back.

"Whatever, we need to get a move on," Ike said turning towards the exit, "Let's just get this over with."

**-XoxOxoX-**

_So this chapter ran on longer than I expected it, so I'm just going to stop it right here haha. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) but please drop by a review with comments, concerns, suggestions etc _

_Thanks for reading! and till next time. _


	6. Day 2: Part 3

"Wait," Zelda gasped as she leaned down with hands on her knees, "I need a breather." Ike halted, keeping the irritated expression on his face. He didn't want to stop- he just wanted this whole fiasco to end as soon as possible- but he knew that there would be no way to successfully emerge from the course if Zelda was weak.

"Are you done?" Ike asked sharply as he grew more impatient the longer they just stayed there not moving. Zelda shot him a look. He still had the nerve to be rude even after she had been dragged down to the depths of watery darkness. But then again, he _did_ save her from it…

Zelda straightened up and tied up her wet hair to keep it form falling over her face. She was tired, very tired, but they had to get a move on, "Yes. Let's go." They both ran down the path to the next square and paused at the entrance, aware that the invisible barrier would keep them safe enough to observe what was on the other side before jumping into the danger.

But it didn't matter. The inside of the square was pitch black. It was as if the darkness was contained in the a box... with no way to know what was inside. The two looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Zelda reached out to the darkness but was stopped by the thin invisible glass.

"Should we just jump through?" Ike said, looking like he was ready to pounce. Zelda shook her head.

"No, we do not know what is on the other side and we can't afford to dive into the unknown with our small number of crystals," she said. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers as an idea miraculously popped into her head.

"Stand as close to the barrier as you can," Zelda quickly said, already taking her stance right in front of the barrier, "I am going to cast a Din's Fire spell to illuminate the inside of the box. When you're able to see what's there, go through. The stalfos inside are going to charge once the barrier is broken." Ike looked at her for a moment before taking a stance beside her, a hand on the barrier.

"I will try to keep casting Din's Fire for light. But we hastily need to get to the exit because I won't be able to cast spells forever," she added. Ike nodded, itching to just jump in. This has been dragging on way too long.

"Alright, let's do this."

The second Zelda casted the spell, the barrier broke and the ball of fire's light quickly lit up the some of darkness in the square as it traveled further in. Both their eyes quickly scanned what they were able to see before Zelda couldn't hold the spell anymore. They both saw numerous stone platforms slowly moving in many rings around a single square platform at the center of the square. The platforms were protruding from more darkness below with the skeletons perched on half of them.

Ike felt a surge of excitement go through him as they saw stalfos already jumping their way towards them, weapons at the ready.

Before the fire ball exploded, they immediately jumped on to the nearest platform, not realizing how actually small they were. They landed just as the light from Zelda's spell disappeared and were almost knocked off by each other's mass on the small space.

"Watch it!," Ike yelled as they both grabbed on to each other for balance before either fell into the darkness. Zelda let go of his arms and immediately casted another Din's Fire straight ahead of them to attack the nearest stalfo she had seen and also providing them a split second of light.

"No time to argue!" Zelda yelled as she jumped to the next platform over before the light disappeared again, "Stay close to me and only move when we have light!" Ike growled with frustration as he punched a stalfo's skull in the darkness. They were not as hard to detect as he guessed for the rattling of their bones and weapons were audible enough but still, the light gave them the majority of the help.

"Watch for the stealthy ones!" Ike grunted as he kicked two stalfo off the platform he was standing on, "And we've got to find the exit!" Zelda was too occupied casting spells to both keep the stalfso at bay and provide light to yell back a reply but she also knew. They weren't timed for this task, but she knew that their time in this square was limited. Like she said, she couldn't blast spells forever. She was already expended of much of her energy from the previous obstacle.

It seemed like an eternity, for they made slow progress trying to find the exit. It was hard to keep themselves from falling while they jumped from platform to platform, especially since they moved in many opposite rotating rings... and even more especially since they had to fight with almost no light. It was frustrating and exhausting for Zelda: casting spells, dodging the stalfos she couldn't destroy from focusing too much on making light, and protecting her crystals. It was a piss off for Ike: fighting off the stalfo that Zelda couldn't destroy, following the princess because he would be dead without her light, and protecting his own crystals. It felt like there would be no end to the barrage of these skeletons coming at them.

And Zelda was beginning to grow too tired.

Suddenly, she heard a foot slide on crumbled stone and a yelp from Ike behind her. The last spell she casted illuminated the room for a few seconds before it exploded, enough for her to see that Ike had slipped and was hanging on to the edge of the platform for dear life. The skeletons were making their way towards him- he was now an easy target. She had to get to him fast.

Zelda sent another spell flying at the skeletons while also jumping a few platforms back to reach Ike, who was trying to climb back up himself with no avail. He, too, was growing tired.

"HOLD ON, IDIOT!" Zelda yelled while she fired more spells and another Din's Fire. Ike rolled his eyes as if he had a choice. Looking up, two stalfos landed right above him with a big thud, their feet so close to his fingertips that they could just stomp on his fingers and he'd be on his way to oblivion. Ike tensed, bracing for the worst. Zelda was still three platforms over, firing spells to maintain the disappearing light and to fight off the skeletons to make it to him.

Then suddenly, the two stalfos grabbed Ike's arms and violently hoisted him up from the edge and plopped him down carelessly. Everything was happening too fast for Ike for him perceive what was happening, especially with the light shining and fading in second intervals.

"Argh!" The next thing he knew, he felt his arms being painfully held apart by bony hands in the short seconds darkness, their grips tight. In the next second, he felt their grip completely disappear and when light shined from another spell, Ike saw the two stalfo following a stealthy one, apparently successful in their mission to steal one of his crystals.

"NO!" Ike yelled angrily, starting to gain after them but then the light disappeared. This time the darkness stayed. It was too late to gain after them; he couldn't risk trying to chase them in the darkness- he would fall for sure.

His mind still raced: where did all the light go? Had something happened to Zelda? He couldn't move without light but stalfos were still coming; he couldn't just stand there. Ike closed his eyes and breathed, trying to rely on hearing to detect where the skeletons were coming from. _"When one of your senses is obsolete, rely on the others," _he could hear his father distantly say in his head. However, it was still hard to keep his balance on the moving platform with his vision blocked.

The rattling of the skeletons' armor and weapons that were coming closer from all directions seemed louder in his ears. It was no problem taking them out one by one as they came into the range of his punches and kicks, the crackling of their bones filling the air. When he could hear no more coming his way, he could hear the explosions of Zelda's spells again with relieving light. He could see that the Hylian was a few platforms away from him before the light vanished again.

When she casted another spell, Ike caught sight of a protruding, unlit wooden torch from above them on a wall of the square. On either side of the torch's was what looked like a stone shelf that ran around the square perimeter. What was sitting atop the shelf, strewn all over, he couldn't tell by his eyes but in his head he knew.

"PRINCESS!" He yelled, jumping platforms as fast as he could towards her as the light continued to flicker. He had to get to her before the platforms moved too far from the torch and they had to go around again. Zelda turned her head to see Ike coming towards her right before she blasted a stalfo that was right at her face.

"What?" she yelled back, ducking and dodging a knife that was thrown at her then casting another spell. Her strength was slowly dying; she had expended too much casting spells. They had to find the exit... and fast. Ike came up to the platform next to her and kicked two stalfos that pursued him.

"There's a torch up to your left on the wall. Don't ask, JUST FIRE AT IT! I'LL COVER YOU!" Ike's voice raised as he kneed a skeleton in the torso and heading of to fend off more stalfos to buy Zelda time. Zelda frantically looked up around her in the last seconds of her last spell. She spotted the piece of wood and with a big surge of relief, shot a Din's Fire with no hesitation. She let the spell go just a few feet away from the torch, far enough so that the explosion wouldn't destroy the wood but close enough for the flame to engulf it.

The fire quickly spread on either side of the torch, the fire rushing on the powder that was strewn on the stone and illuminating the whole square. Ike and Zelda let out a big heave of relief for they were finally able to see much of the square in light besides the top and bottom of the square which was still in darkness. To their left was what looked like the exit: a platform right across the entrance from which they came that had two doors sitting atop.

"The exit!" Zelda pointed.

"I see it," Ike growled as he took out more stalfos that pounced at him. There were still a good number of the skeletons remaining and their strength was down to the end, we need to go!"

"Wait! What if the exit won't open unless we defeat all of them?" Zelda asked.

"Are you nuts? I'm not sticking around, I'm gonna get out of here!" Ike yelled irritably back at her, already jumping from platform to platform towards the exit with some of the stalfo already pursuing him. She hesitated a bit before following him but the next thing she knew, the rest of the remaining stalfos were already coming towards her. She spotted a stealthy one from the corner of her eye as they landed on the platforms surrounding her before she could even move.

She was cornered. Zelda barely had any strength left and she was outnumbered. Ike landed on the platform of the exit, expecting for the doors to open themselves for they had no knobs. They didn't.

Zelda was right.

Suddenly, he heard her yell for help. He turned in time to see that she had been immobilized, too weak to effectively fight back, and two stealthy stalfos grabbing her last two crystals.

"Shit!" Those were her last and if the stalfos got away with it, they would fail the first task. Ike moved to go back and beat the living hell out of the skeletons but they had already disappeared in a black smoke. All of them; even the ones that were about to jump on him. Zelda was left sitting on her bottom and hands weakly supporting herself up.

That was it.

Game Over.

They stared at each other for a few moments from a distance, heaving from exhaustion. Then their stares turned to piercing glares.

"You-!" Zelda began to yell but was interrupted by the sudden change of their surroundings. The darkness suddenly disappeared, the platforms stopped moving and the whole square was lit up. What was revealed before them was ridiculous. The platforms were only 20 feet up from the bottom of the square and were evidently moved mechanically. The ceiling of the whole course was visible above them.

_"You have failed the second task,"_ Master Hand's voice boomed out of nowhere, _"I am very disappointed; you two came very close. You actually worked very well for the majority... but when it came to splitting your intuitions- that's where you failed in team work and communication." _Zelda and Ike glared at each other again, their daggers pointing the blame at the other. _  
_

_"For this failure, the next task will consequently be more difficult," _Master Hand continued. At the center platform, a mini Transporter appeared in a flash, _"Now, go back and rest. Think about and discuss your mistakes."_

Ike and Zelda irritably made their way towards the Transporter, and stepped on not wanting to meet each other's eyes. Both of them were furious. They failed the first task and now they've failed the second. At this rate, they'll surely fail the third.

The light engulfed the Transporter and sent them back up to the house.

**-XoxOxoX-**

"I told you the door would NOT open if all of them weren't defeated," Zelda hissed as they heatedly barged into their room. They were both exhausted, in pain and angry.

"How in the hell was I supposed to know that?" Ike hissed back at her, rummaging through his pack for a fresh towel. Zelda went to the closet and grabbed her night gown and towel and turned back at the mercenary.

"Does the old human saying of _better safe than sorry_ not ring a bell to you? Godddesses, if you would have stayed, we would have probably finished the task!" She made her way towards the bathroom, picking up her brush on the way.

"Well, _Princess, _if you wouldn't have debated with me in that little dinky head of yours, you would have followed me and _even_ though what you said was true, you wouldn't have to go against those stalfo-shit things alone." Ike also made his way towards the bathroom with his towel over his shoulder, not about to let her get it first. They angrily faced each other at the door.

"Are you insinuating that this is MY fault?" Zelda slapped Ike's chest with the back of her hand. Ike glowered over her, "You were the one that was wrong!"

"Yes, I'm insinuating that it's your fault," Ike growled, "I may have been wrong but I wasn't the one playing-damsel-in-distress-because-I-was-too-stubborn-to- actually-go-with-a-better-plan." He entered the bathroom before Zelda could even reply.

"Go fu- oh I'm sorry, please excuse my peasant language Your Damn Highness," Ike mockingly said then locked his eyes with hers, "Go fornicate yourself." And with that, he slammed the door closed and left a dumbfounded and extremely offended Zelda standing there speechless. She let out a frustrated, exasperated sigh as she turned, threw her gown and towel on her bed and stomped outside before she could tear the door down and strangle Ike in his underwear.

This was not going well.

**-XoxOxoX-**

Zelda sat outside on the porch that night just like the night before. The evening breeze calmed her a bit, even more after she had finished her shower after Ike finally left the bathroom after an hour. Still, she was heated on the inside.

She was right about the doors not opening and he still had the audacity to blame it on her? Goddesses... to Oblivion with this man. It was the worst idea to send them out here on a week long "retreat"; it was just making things between them more heated than cooled and they were only on the second day. There were still five more days left.

'_Goddesses,' _Zelda sighed and thought, '_I don't think I'll last.'_

She slowly got up from the porch and went back inside to go to bed. She was still exhausted from the task today and they had gotten a message earlier from Master Hand about their task tomorrow at 9 o'clock in the morning. Zelda needed all the rest she could get.

**-XoxOxoX-**

"I can't believe they failed again!" Roy exclaimed. The other smashers with him that were also watching nodded and murmured to each other in agreement. It seemed to them that Master Hand's punishment wasn't working the least bit.

"If I was the one there with Ike," Samus said angrily, "I would have thrown his ass into that valley." Link beside her merely sighed, more at the situation with Zelda and Ike than her comment. He wasn't enjoying this.

"Why is it so hard for them to get along anyway?" Sonic asked, "I don't know why Ike would even think about hating her guts. She's hot." Link was suddenly behind him with fiery eyes and blood lust radiating off of his very being.

"Master Hand, if I may ask out of curiosity, what was the last obstacle even?" Marth inquired, ignoring the fact that Link was strangling Sonic half to death while the other smashers were frantically trying to pry the poor hedgehog from the Hylian's maniacal grip. Snake, Fox and other collected smashers closest to Marth overheard the question and turned to hear the answer, also curious. A laugh escaped from Master Hand at the far back of the room where he watched.

"An all-you-can-eat buffet."

**-XoxOxoX-**

_Sorry for taking so long to update! But here's the last chapter of Day 2 :) I hope you guys all enjoyed it. If you have any comments, suggestions, critiques or anything don't be shy, leave me a review! _

_And also, if you're a fan of the Legend of Korra, be sure to check out my stories for that series too! Thanks for reading. Until next time :)_


	7. Day 3: Part 1

Ike squirmed in his bed as soreness overcame him as he woke. Damn, yesterday exerted a lot from him; pain shot through his whole body when all he did was switch his sleeping position. He muttered in annoyance as light from the window showed through and stung his eyes when he cracked them open.

'_Morning already?' _he mentally groaned.

It felt as if his nine-hour slumber was only a mere minute. He shifted again, ignoring the pain just so his position was comfortable. As he moved, his gaze landed on Zelda's sleeping figure that was a few feet away from him on the other bed.

She looked peaceful and calm, regal looking even as she slept. Her body was facing towards him, probably not intentional after their heated exchange of words the night before. Ike half frowned and half glared at nothing in particular as he continued to gaze at her.

For some odd reason, with an explanation that was beyond him, he felt like his last words to her last night were a little too harsh. Of course, he was angry at the fact that they had failed their second task but he also knew, deep down, that Zelda was completely right. They really had to defeat all the stalfo in order to open the exit and Ike had ignored that idea.

And it ended in their failure.

Ike shut his eyes, hating the apologetic feelings towards her. His pride was being painfully tugged at all angles.

He hated saying sorry.

**-XoxOxoX- **

Zelda's eyes fluttered open as she woke.

'_Ugh, the morning came too soon,'_ she thought as she stretched. Suddenly pain zapped through her body causing her to recoil with a curse. The day before had also taken a big toll on her body- she was sore and her bones felt like they were about to break.

The sunlight lightly shined on her skin, slight warmth radiating despite the morning chill. She rubbed her eyes and tried to ignore the soreness that lingered on her limbs. Zelda was definitely not a morning person and the fact that he body was pained didn't make it any better.

The memory of what happened the night before popped into her consciousness and the anger that swarmed her returned. She didn't think she'd ever forgive Ike for the last words he uttered at her with complete disdain. She'd never met anyone who'd dare speak to her that way; even with Ike's contempt he'd never spoken to her in that vile manner before.

Zelda shook her head to try and calm herself down. She was the one who was right in the end, so let that jerk stay in hopeless denial till he rots in the ground.

She glanced at Ike's bed to see if he'd risen for the morning and saw that his bed was already empty, sheets strewn in a large mess. Zelda grumbled, not surprised that he didn't follow Master Hand's instructions but also feeling slightly offended that he hadn't at least woken her up. It already looked like it was ten in the morning and she never slept past eight.

On the bright side, the morning walk looked like it was going to be cancelled. Fine by Zelda; she wanted to be away from the cretin as much as possible since she knew she'd have enough of him during the task.

Zelda expected that there'd be a message waiting for her after she'd shower and got dressed but the television remained still with its screen black. For a quick second, she hoped that their task had be cancelled that day and that Master Hand was just going to allow a break- have mercy on their souls.

Yeah, right.

Zelda knew as much as anyone else that Master Hand was one that loved amusement and had the most annoying persistence in his punishments. It was what stopped the children from pulling pranks alongside Sonic and Diddy, though it didn't stop the two latter.

She made her way to the kitchen, with the intention of getting something into her stomach while she waited for a message to come, and found that there was already food on the table. The plates were wrapped or covered to preserve the freshness of the food that caught Zelda by surprise.

Had Ike made it for her? She glanced at the kitchen's sink and saw that there were two dirtied plates already sitting there ready to be washed. She uncovered the wrappings and saw that half of the food was already gone but noticed that if none of it had been eaten already, there'd be enough for two.

Zelda eyed the food in suspicion. It looked like Ike left the food out for her, or else he'd have eaten all of it in the first place, but was there some laxative or some sort of prank that would have her hurling into the toilet after a few bites?

She heard stomach grumble in protest to her suspicion. Just eat it, it said, why waste such good food? Her stomach was right, the food did smell so good and it looked delectable. It still surprised her that the mercenary was capable of preparing such a spread.

"Tch, leave it to you to be looking ungrateful," she heard Ike say behind her.

Zelda turned and saw that he was closing the front door clad in outdoor clothes. He'd apparently taken the morning walk by himself and just made his way back.

So Ike did leave this food out for her and it caught Zelda by even more surprise. Was this a little gesture of apology?

"Just eat it," he said looking annoyed, "I didn't spike it with anything if that's what you're thinking."

Zelda observed him and found no trace of fibbing. It still wondered her that he had even thought to make food for her. She nodded and went to heat up the plates as Ike threw himself on the couch.

He sat there in silence, his posture anything but graceful, and listened to the clinking and clanging of Zelda preparing the food in the kitchen. The morning chill that he felt outside followed him inside and it was uncomfortable; the contrasting warmth in the house didn't help at all.

A message didn't come while he was away from what he could tell by the blackness of the screen and Zelda not mentioning anything to him about when he walked in. He was hoping that there would have been one for he wanted to avoid conversing or having unnecessary contact with Hylian Princess.

Ike was still heated at the day before, though now more at the fact they failed than at Zelda. He'd left the food out for her with the intention of a silent apology because his nerve and pride wouldn't allow him to voice one. He detested her guts, but he wasn't one so heartless that he wouldn't give a small apology at the least.

Zelda sat down on the table and ate in silence while Ike continued to stare at the blank screen in front of him. The silence wasn't awkward; it was actually beyond it since neither expected the other to say anything to break the quiet.

There was nothing to do but wait for the next task.

**-XoxOxoX-**

It was about two hours later when the television lit up and sounded its beeping that signaled an incoming message. Ike immediately reached for the remote from his seat on the couch while Zelda ran out of their room in a hurry from her short slumber.

"_Dear Princess Zelda and Ike," _the letter said,

"_It still disappoints me that you two haven't been able to complete at least one morning walk on top of not being able to complete a task so far. Of course, you know the consequences of these faults and I will not ignore any chance to make your future tasks more difficult." _

Ike groaned. Zelda tightened her fists.

"_For the third task, you will need to work together more than you have before. You will be forced to; there is no other choice and I made sure of it. But first, you will need to go down to the same room as the previous task and I will further give you instructions as soon as you do. Again, carry no weapons and please be timely." _

Without saying a word to each other, they briskly made their way back to the ground door next to the shed, both apprehensive and eager to get the task done with. Neither of them wanted to be around the other, their frustration still there even after Ike's insignificant attempt at amends.

The stairway was dark like before, the familiar sounds of feet on metal ringing in the air not making the room seem any smaller.

"What do you suppose the next task is?" Zelda wondered out loud more to herself than to Ike who was walking beside her. The Master Hand's words of _you'll be forced to work together_ bothered her a bit. Leave it to him to go to drastic measures- she wouldn't be the least bit surprised but she was still wary.

Ike merely grunted in reply but even if he wanted to give a full response he wouldn't know what to have said.

The lights illuminated the room right when they touched the end of the staircase and they saw that the setting was very different from the obstacle course they'd encountered yesterday. The room was blindingly white, completely square with a flat ground, and the walls were lined with thin blue lines. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the complete silence and Ike could swear he could hear Zelda's breathing from a few feet away.

The white doors quickly behind them slid shut and its lines eerily disappeared without a trace. Ike walked ahead of Zelda towards the center of the large room, observing the walls as he did. The place was immaculate, plain, and left both of them blindly guessing what was in store for them.

Suddenly, a holographic screen appeared high on one of the walls and revealed the familiar image of Master Hand.

"_Welcome," _his booming voice echoed, _"This is the start of your third task which, I dare say, will be a challenge twice as difficult as the last. You will go through a series of four 'puzzles' that require quick thinking and problem solving as well as the physical requirements I've mentioned to you before. _

_Each puzzle will materialize right in front of you after every success and you are to solve them in however means you two see fit. Not one puzzle is the same as another so keep your heads sharp. Again, you are not timed." _

It sounded easy enough to Zelda and Ike, though it sounded hauntingly similar to the obstacle course they'd faced. Solve each puzzle and they move on to the next. Simple. Bearable.

"_However…" _

Ike and Zelda inwardly groaned at Master Hand's catch. He was never lacking in surprises.

"_Princess Zelda, hold out your left hand towards Ike. Ike, hold out your right." _

The two glanced at each other with suspicious faces, honestly lost to what the Master Hand was trying to do. They hesitantly obeyed and only let their fingertips be a mere inch from each other. A glow of yellow light shined on their wrists and quickly faded away, strong metal shackles taking its place.

They both felt their faces pale white then burn red.

"MASTER HAND! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" Zelda yelled, fiercely pointing at the metal that bonded her wrist to Ike's. The mercenary looked just as furious with his cheeks beet red.

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" Ike bellowed, pulling his side of the shackle up in the air and pulling Zelda along with it.

The bind on their wrists tightened at the movement and both felt slight pain at the tightness. Just when they thought this was going to be bearable, the Master Hand had them closely chained together at the wrists. They suddenly wanted to get this task over and done with in a second.

"_I am very serious. Don't even try to break the shackles. They contain traces of diamond that makes them indestructible without my key. You are to solve the puzzles together… literally. I figure that if you're forced to work together, you'll have more of a chance in completing this task. Stay sharp and on your toes. Good luck!" _

Ike and Zelda glared at Master Hand's image and each other as the holographic screen disappeared.

"Follow my lead, Princess," Ike said, the crease on his brow growing deeper, "This'll be over before we know it and we can get this damned thing off our wrists."

"No, _you_ follow my lead," Zelda retorted as she pulled the chain back towards her and pulling Ike along with it. She looked at him square in the eyes so close that he could see the fire burning within them.

"Just because you may have left that little attempt at reconciliation for me this morning doesn't mean you have the authority to order me around," she said, her voice dangerously low, "I admit, I appreciate your little attempt, but I still detest the fact that we're chained together as much as you do."

Ike didn't know what to respond back with for the first time since his fiery relationship with the princess started. Zelda's hardened demeanor took him by surprise and his natural, impulsive words got caught in his throat.

He composed himself again and returned her fiery glare, "Like you have any authority either, you bi-"

His words were cut from the unexpected change in their surroundings. From the room's white walls, ceiling and floor emerged earth and blue sky, materializing at a rapid pace. The ground rumbled as stone walls rose to make what looked like a small stadium around them, appearing so authentic that it didn't seem like a simulation that was conjured artificially.

At one end of the small stadium were metal bars that blocked off a large, dark hole that was probably homing a giant beast from the looks of it. The height of the opening looked about 20 feet high. There were large rocks strewn all over the grounds on which they stood and a small hill appeared right behind them.

The two looked around in agitation, completely taken off guard by the adjustment. There was no sign of an audience despite the stone benches and no sign of anything else in there but them. The place seemed abandoned. This was unpredictable.

"What the hell is this?" Ike said as he craned his neck to get a good look at everything around them.

Zelda was just as clueless. She scanned their surroundings and her eyes landed on the gated opening a hundred feet away. Blood red eyes suddenly blinked at her from inside the darkness and sharp teeth shined with a glint. The bars slowly slid upwards into the earth and stopped with a loud clang.

Zelda absentmindedly grabbed into Ike's sleeve with her free hand, her eyes trained on the red ones staring back at her.

"What?" he said in response to her sudden grab.

He turned to see what the princess was ogling at and saw a large reptilian creature crawl out, a low rumble sounding deep in its throat. It stopped a few feet outside the cavernous opening and just riveted its red, glaring eyes right at the two.

"What in the name of Goddesses is _that_?" Zelda whispered questioningly in awe.

The thing was heavily scaled, walked on four short legs, and looked absolutely horrid. Its scales glinted in the faux sunlight and a green goop was oozing out from under them. Its nostrils flared and its mouth slowly widened to reveal several sharp teeth. It was something neither of them recognized from their own worlds.

Before Ike could reply, the beast suddenly sprung towards them, its short legs pushing off the ground so rapidly that it threw the two into a state of panic. Zelda and Ike lunged in opposite directions, forgetting that they were bound at the wrists, and both stumbled down onto the rocky ground.

Ike acted quickly, grabbing onto Zelda's frame and pushing them both out of the creature's reach. They rolled into a stop behind one of the boulders sitting several feet away. The shackles painfully pulled on their wrists and it was evident that they'd have to coordinate how to move together quickly and efficiently lest their arms would twist or possibly break at the movement of one person.

"What are we supposed to do?! Kill it?" Ike said, pulling them both up from the ground by the chain and peeking around the boulder to see if it was coming after them. The creature was slowly walking towards where they'd hid and looked about ready to pounce once more.

"Are you daft? Look at the armor it has," Zelda said, "It would take a lot of hits to kill the beast even if we _weren't_ chained together."

"Then what do you suppose we do, huh, Princess?" Ike hissed.

A claw suddenly reached out from atop the boulder down to where they were standing. They barely ducked from its reach and tumbled on top of each other still forgetting that they were attached. A roar sounded from above them as the beast jumped from its perch to land on top of the two.

"Ha!" Zelda yelled as she casted a Din's Fire spell and threw the beast back up against the rock.

That was almost too close. If she had let that spell go a second later they would have been crushed and the task would have been over in that split second. And Ike couldn't have been more frustrated. With one of his wrists bound to Zelda's there was no way for him to fight and it was already hard enough to just evade. Their only means of offense was Zelda's magic and they both seriously did not want another repeat of the second task.

And Zelda was right: the beast's armor looked too difficult to get through. What the hell were they supposed to do?

"Here it comes again!"

The creature had already recollected itself by the time Ike and Zelda had gotten themselves off the floor and off each other. It charged at them with another ear piercing roar and bearing sharp teeth that looked like it could cut through their flesh and bone with ease.

"Tch, no choice," Ike growled. Zelda suddenly felt his shackled arm wrap around her waist, immobilizing her left arm.

"What-?!"

"Just shut up and fire!" Ike yelled over the creature's roars, "I'll get us away from it!"

Zelda gathered her wits and saw that there was no other way to escape the thing for the time being. With one hand, she casted multiple spells to keep it at bay while Ike swiftly carried her to the other side of the arena. She let out a big burst of magic in front of its eyes and blinded it to give them some time to hide themselves away from its sight.

"You could have at least had the courtesy to tell me what you were going to do," Zelda said, annoyed that he just swept her away like that.

"There was no fucking time," Ike shot back just as annoyed, "and like I enjoy having to wrap my arm around you, Princess."

He let her waist go once they found shelter behind a packet of rocks tightly pushed up against each other. The creature's painful moans still made its away across the arena and shook the ground beneath their feet. They peered through cracks in the rock fortress and panted from the run.

"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Ike growled, "We can hardly move being shackled together! Argh, that Master Hand…"

Zelda didn't know what they were to do either. She assumed that by putting them against such an armored beast, the Master Hand didn't intend for them to kill it- it'd be impossible especially with their handicap anyway. Her mind raced trying to figure out what Master Hand wanted them to do with this creature. If there was no way to kill it then there must be some other solution.

"What's that over there?" Ike asked with a confused tone when he looked over to the hill of stone that had appeared behind them at the start of the task.

Zelda looked over to where Ike was peering at and saw the peculiar thing he was talking about. Resting atop the hill was a straw nest that embraced a giant egg that looked too big for the nest's size. They hadn't noticed it before from being distracted with the setting change. It just sat there unmoving… why was that there?

An idea lit up in her head out of nowhere but she had to make sure she was correct with her assumption before they could act.

"Come!"

Zelda moved before Ike could protest. She forcefully pulled him along with her towards the egg's hill while the beast still tried shaking off the last blast to the eyes. They were halfway there before Ike aggressively fought back against her tugging and pulled her behind a pile of rocks on the side.

"Are you insane?! We're running _towards_ the thing; are you trying to get us killed?" Ike jeered.

"That egg," Zelda said, unfazed. Her assumption had to be correct because why else would the egg be sitting there unprotected and out in the open?

"I'm assuming that the egg belongs to that beast," she continued, peeking around the rocks to see the creature finish recovering, "If I am right, we can use it as a form of a beacon to lure it back into its hole. I recall seeing a lever right next to the opening."

Ike glanced over the cave and saw that there was, indeed, a lever meant for opening and closing beside it. Zelda's proposition made complete sense to him and he grew more abiding by the second. But of course, they still had to make sure the egg really belonged to the beast or they'll be putting themselves in danger's plain sight for no reason.

"Alright, let's go," Ike said, nodding.

By that second, the beast was moving in search of the two and thankfully went in the opposite direction of where they were hiding. The Goddesses blessed them with that lucky break, Zelda thought. They swiftly made their way to the hill, letting their shackled arms dangle as they ran to make it go more efficiently. They made it without tipping their presence off to the beast that was turning over multiple rocks.

"So we carry this or what?" Ike grunted as he tried to wrap his free arm around the egg. The egg was about the size of his torso, so big for its straw nest that it acted like its sock, and looked extremely fragile. He had to be careful or else this thing would crack at the second he made the wrong move or let it slip from his already shaky hold.

The beast's roar came loudly in their ears again and they looked up to see that it had seen them on the hill. It started to charge towards them with its roars turning into deep shrieks. It appeared that Zelda was right about the egg after all; the monster seemed panicked, alarmed, desperate. It came at them with such speed, violently crushing the rocks that stood in its way, that it made emergency take over them.

They hadn't realized it would be so hard to move the egg even when Zelda wrapped her arms around the thing to help. It was heavy and there was no way they could move fast enough to evade the beast's charge. They had to think fast or it was over.

"Keep your hold on it!" Zelda yelled to Ike as she let her grip go and pumped her magic to her free palm.

She raised her glowing hand towards the egg and watched as the beast completely stop in its tracks. It let out a distressed roar into the air, its wild eyes perceiving Zelda's raised hand as an attack on its unborn offspring. It stomped its front legs on the ground, making it shake then flared its nostrils with a large breath, its roars unending.

"What's happening?!" Ike yelled from behind the egg.

"I stopped it," Zelda let out the breath she was holding from the anticipation, "It really is its egg."

The creature continued to roar and growl at them, its feet digging into the ground. Zelda decided to tease more for good measure and made her raised hand glow brighter from the escalating magic. She received another distressed roar from the beast. If it weren't for its horrid appearance and just as horrid howls, she could almost say that the thing was crying.

"We're going to move to the cave," Zelda ordered, "Slowly."

Ike didn't offer much of a reply for he was too busy trying to carefully move the egg without dropping. They only inched by the second making the path to their destination seem many miles too long. But they knew they couldn't make sudden movements and how could they even with the egg weighing about as much as Bowser?

Zelda kept her hand raised at the egg as they moved down the hill, wary of the beast's twitching movements. Ike tried with all his might not to drop it for if he did the monster would unleash all hell and what were they to do without a trump card? The object he was carrying was their only means of victory.

They continued to move at a painstakingly slow pace for what felt like two eternities. The beas moved its sight along with them but stayed in the same spot, its roars ceasing but low rumbles from its throat replacing them. Its red eyes were riveted on their movements, burning wildly with ferocity. Its nostrils flared angrily and the green goop that was oozing from under its scales turned into a runny consistency.

They were finally a few yards away when Ike felt like his arms were about to be ripped from its sockets but he didn't complain. The faster this was done with the faster they could get through their third task. The beast had inched closer and closer as their distance from the cave grew smaller. Their hearts beat up violently against their chests with the suspense growing more intense by the second.

"Do we go in there?" Ike asked, panting with his arms in utter pain when the made it to the entrance.

Zelda realized they hadn't completely thought out their plan through to the end. They'd gotten the egg successfully and made it their destination… but how in the world were they going to get the beast inside its cave and pull the lever to close the gates without breaking the egg and leaving unscathed?

She bit her lip, her mind racing trying to figure out their options. They couldn't roll the egg in there; the beast would just take the chance to attack them out in the open with its egg tucked safely in the cave. They couldn't go into the cave themselves; they'd be trapped in the space with the beast if it saw the opportunity to corner them. There didn't seem to be any other possibilities. Either one already seemed like a bad idea.

She relayed her ideas with Ike but only got the same look of indecisiveness on his face. His eyes then flickered to the straw nest that was still gripping onto the bottom of the egg.

"The nest," he said, breathless as the idea came to him, "We can light it on fire and leave it next to the egg in the cave."

Zelda's eyes widened at the clever plan.

"A diversion!" she exclaimed, understanding where he was getting at.

They could use the egg-in-distress as their cover to escape. But that only meant one thing: they first had to get the beast into the cave. The only problem with that was the distance it placed itself from them. If it followed them into the cave, it would still keep its distance and block the exit. They had to get it in there far and long enough for them to run out and close the gates.

They slowly made their way into the cave that was dimly lit by Zelda's magic. The cave was a lot smaller than they'd expected they were sure that the beast would block their exit if they didn't get it deep into the cave enough. They came up to back wall of the cavern, farthest from the entrance, and Ike placed the egg with its nest down on the cold ground. He outwardly sighed from the exhaustion and pain in relief.

The beast made its way in, gradually decreasing their distance and its growls echoing on the walls. Zelda kept her hand raised and told Ike to take the straw nest and place it a few feet away from the egg. She didn't have the heart to actually light it on fire.

"I am going to power down my magic to let it think it can attack us," Zelda said, "It'll charge and I'll set the nest on fire for the diversion. Then, we run."

Ike nodded, ready to put their plan into effect. He itched to finish this.

"Do it."

The whole cavern went black the second Zelda let her magic disappear and the beast's roar shook its walls. They heard its strong feet pound against the ground in mini quakes. It was heading right for them… and fast.

Zelda blinded sent a Din's Fire smell towards the direction of where the nest was set, engulfing it in flames and lighting that end of the cave. The creature stopped in its tracks again and howled when it saw its egg sitting almost too close to the fire. It switched its course and ran to save its unborn offspring. This was their chance.

"RUN!" Ike hollered, pulling their chain that forced Zelda forward.

They ran as fast as they could towards the entrance, not looking back once. They felt the floor shake beneath their stomping feet from the beast's roars and tiny pieces of rubble from the cavern's ceiling crumbled atop their heads. They made it outside into the light before they knew it, panting like exhausted dogs with their lungs feeling like they were about to collapse.

"Close it!" Zelda yelled after she had caught her breath.

The beast had apparently already beaten down the small fire with its feet and was charging its way after them.

"HURRY!"

Ike threw his free hand towards the lever and pulled it down with all his might. The metal gates shifted and creaked then slowly descended down. But it wasn't closing fast enough. It was barely halfway when the beast was only ten yards from the entrance.

Their efforts looked like it was for nothing.

Zelda acted before she could think and sent a large spell towards the top of the entrance out of alarm. The stone exploded into bits and the stadium's seats collapsed down on the hole, blocking it. The crumbling of large rock and the shaking of the ground muffled the creature's roars. The small avalanche halted after the last piece of broke rock fell.

Ike collapsed on the ground, giving into his exhaustion and dragging down Zelda down with him with her stomach on his lap. The two were too tired and stricken to sound any protest and just stayed that way for a few moments. Ike's arms were sore and had a hard time keeping himself up as he leaned back. Zelda wasn't pained was just as tired.

"That was way too close," Ike panted as he wiped a sweat from his forehead with the back of his free hand.

"_This_ is far too close," Zelda grumbled.

Her left arm was almost wrapped around his bottom since he was using his right arm to prop himself up. A light pink suddenly came to their faces and they both briskly (and embarrassingly) rustled away from each other.

"My bad," Ike mumbled.

**-XoxOxoX-**

"Phew!" Peach sighed in relief. They had managed to emerge from the situation victorious.

The other smashers watching followed suit in cheers and whistles. Fox and Wolf were betting again and Wolf handed money over in another defeat with an annoyed grumble.

"You're much too cruel, Master Hand," Marth commented, referring to Ike and Zelda's bound wrists.

"Too cruel," Samus added, but was just as relieved as Peach that they'd won this one. Master Hand's laugh sounded in the whole room.

"Oh, but is it not amusing?" he asked.

"I think it's pretty interesting," Falco commented with a chuckle.

Mario and Luigi agreed with their signature Italian yips. Some others nodded and sounded their own agreements while the rest shook their heads with disapproval. Despite some of the condemnation, Zelda and Ike's ordeal had become an attraction that many came to see regularly. Even some of the villains stayed the whole time their show was on the screen.

"You gotta admit, though," Snake said, letting out a low laugh, "Chaining them together is the best part."

"Hey, where's Link?" Roy asked, looking around for the other Hylian.

"Over there crying in the corner."

**-XoxOxoX-**

_I seriously apologize for the extremely long wait LOL. And I hope that this chapter suffices… If not then I promise the next chapter will be better to make up for it.I really felt burnt out after typing this one up hahaha_

_But anyway, reviews with feedback and critiques are still just as appreciated! Thanks so much for still remaining loyal readers. It really means a whole lot! _

_Till next time! _


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